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by A_stupid_writer_1



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Star Wars References, Star Wars Spoilers, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Spoilers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Spoilers, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23932903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_stupid_writer_1/pseuds/A_stupid_writer_1
Summary: In which a girl must steal to survive on the planet Tatooine. Being an orphan and without a home, the only way out that she can find at 8 years old is to infiltrate different places where people usually stay or rest and steal everything that has a price.Everything changes when she tries to rob a well-known war hero.
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, now i have this Star wars storie, i hope you like it

In which a girl must steal to survive on the planet Tatooine. Being an orphan and without a home, the only way out that she can find at 8 years old is to infiltrate different places where people usually stay or rest and steal everything that has a price.

Everything changes when she tries to rob a well-known war hero.

That day Kiara Lang decided to check the vehicles of the diners of a local restaurant. Tatooine is not a tourist planet, only some come, but they don’t stay for long, so she must act fast and run away. With great skill and experience, the girl disarmed the ships, kept the valuable and went to the next.

She was almost done with everyone, only one X-Wing was missing. It did not seem to be very large, compared to other ships she had seen, but the little one couldn’t leave any unchecked, her food depends on this. She started her routine and put the objects in her bag and when she was about to leave, she heard a whisper.

She looked everywhere fearful that someone would discover her, after a few seconds she found no one, but again, she heard it.

She couldn’t really understand what that voice was saying, in fact, she didn’t know if they were words, there was something that called her, something that prevented her from walking away, so she returned and opened the capsule that protected the passenger and sat on the pilot’s spot.

She watched the control panel without knowing very well how it works, but she didn’t care much. She took the lever that was in front of her and moved it from side to side, and for a few minutes, pretended that she was in a battle in space, made noises simulating the weapons being fired, and moved to avoid an attack, then her laugher flooded the ship.

 _‘It would be great to be able to go to space and know how to fly one of these things. Out of here.’_ She thought.

But all yearning was interrupted… by the owner of the X-Wing.

“Your mother didn’t teach you not to take what is not yours?” Says a male voice, startling her.

She peeked her head to look down. A blond-haired man looked at her with his arms crossed. The little girl’s face turned red, she sighed and slowly got off the ship.

“Something to say in your defense, girl?”

“Sorry, sir,” She said in a whisper.

What the little girl did not know is that the man was not upset, but intrigued.

“How could you open my ship without activating the alarm?” She dragged her foot a little, drawing circles in her place, and put her hands behind her back. The man raised his eyebrows. “Or do you prefer an officer to ask these questions?”

The girl raised her head and with no alternative, pulled out an old screwdriver and gave it to him.

The man analyzes the object, at first glance it seems only a screwdriver, but someone had altered it. He didn’t understand how something like this could open his X-Wing, but it didn’t matter.

He returned it. The blond saw that, at the time the girl put the screwdriver in her bag, other parts of vehicles were there.

He knew the girl had something special, he could feel it. He walked away a little to observe her better: her attire consisted of a blouse, which was too large, she’d tied the edges with an old rope. Her pants reached almost to the knees and her shoes were worn-out. She was dirty, her black hair held in a ponytail.

“Where are your parents?” He asked.

“If I knew, I would be with them,” she said.

She was telling the truth. The man decided to enter the girl’s mind: Orphaned, she was left at the door of an old woman who raised her for the first 4 years of life, but died. The girl has been alone since then. Another detail that he noticed was that he could not see who had left her at the door, there was something blocking him.

The man knelt down to meet her and gently took her by the chin to observe her features better. They reminded him of someone in detail, but he couldn’t remember, her gray eyes looked at him with fear and confusion. The girl frowned. They had never reacted like this before when they discovered her. The blond withdrew his hand and smiled.

“My name is Luke Skywalker.”

“Why didn’t you call the officer? I stole parts of your ship, it’s illegal,” She said making him laugh.

“Did you hear or feel anything when you entered my ship?” He asked, remembering the actions he had seen in the little girl’s mind.

She was surprised, how did he know that?

She nodded.

“Your ship must have something broken,” He smiled.

“It’s not the ship, girl. Hasn’t it happened to you before?” The girl now looked worried.

“Do I have something broken?” She said scared.

The man show his head.

“I know what’s wrong with you, little one. But it is very difficult to explain and we need time,” He said, getting up, “But first I must ask you, would you be willing to travel with me? I will take you to a place where you can understand it better.”

She frowned.

“No, I don’t know you. How do I know it’s not a trick to hurt me?” She said walking away.

“Smart girl,” He scratched his chin.

Although she could sense that this man would not harm her, the whisper told her that she would be fine, but she didn’t want to take a risk.

“I am a member of an Order called Jedi, do you know what they are?”

“Jara said they were protectors and could do tricks. She also said that they had their lightsabers,” She said, now interested.

He laughed, nodding.

“Yes, we can also hear and feel something called ‘The Force’ which is everywhere and you can do it too, girl.”

“Am I… Am I a Jedi?”

“It’s what I expect. I would like to show you how to be one, but you must come with me.”

She bited her lower lip. ‘ _Could I finally get out of here?_ ’

“Other children will also be there, you’re not alone, Kiara.”

She was surprised once again, how did he know her name? It must be a Jedi trick. The little girl smiled and he smiled back at her, as if they had both thought the same.

“Okay.”

The man offers his hand and she takes it.

“But first,” They both stopped, “You must return what you stole.”

“Oh, come on!” The girl complained making Luke laugh.


	2. Nightmares

I had never seen so much… green.

As soon as Luke and I got off the ship that brought us, I couldn’t help sitting on the grass. I am touching grass, no more sand. I feel the leaves of small plants. I look up and find many trees, some were huge, and in the distance there is a river, I can hear different sounds of animals.

“Very different from Tatooine, right?” I nod without taking my eyes off the landscape. To some extent I feel overwhelmed, I feel that, at any moment, everything will disappear or that I will have to leave.

“Don’t be pessimistic” Jedi tricks! “Come, I’ll show you the temple.”

I release a sigh and get up, I take Luke’s hand and he guides me towards the huge construction. He shows me the different rooms where children train: practice with a lightsaber, meditation, combat.

In the end we go to one of the gardens where several students are playing, laughing, running. Everyone wore weird clothes, similar to what Luke is wearing, it looks like they have bandages on their legs and some wear brown, gray or white robes, on their torsos they have another piece of cloth.

Luke calls them and they all approach.

“I want to introduce you to our new student, she is Kiara Lang. I hope you receive her with respect and help if necessary,” I feel their eyes on me and I feel somewhat nervous. Some nod with a smile, while others look at me curiously.

“Well, for now you can continue playing, I have to fix certain issues; tomorrow we will continue with your training and Kiara,” I look up, “In a moment I will show you where you will sleep.”

When Luke left the others dispersed none gave importance to my presence. I don’t know if that’s a problem.

I walk through the grass until we reach some fences where some flowers of different colors are planted. I touch the petals feeling the softness.

“Where are you from?” A child’s voice startles me and I turn to see.

He is taller than me, his hair is black and a little long, I can see that in the back he has a small braid, some children also had it. His dark brown eyes watch me curious, his face covered with freckles.

“What?” I may not have been so popular at home, but I am sure that this is not how you start a conversation.

“Where are you from?” He repeats.

“Tatooine. I’m Kiara,” I raise my hand as a greeting, but he ignores me.

“I know your name, Luke said it just now,” He rolls his eyes and I blush.

“This is the part where you say your name,” I indicate.

“I’m Ben Solo,” I open my mouth to say something else, but he interrupts me, “You’re dirty and your clothes are ripped.”

“Hey Ben, will you come or will you be reading as usual?” Said a girl behind him. She, along with two boys approach. Ben rolls his eyes.

“I prefer to do something other than being with you.

“So Kiara,” says one of them and analyzes me from top to bottom, “Why are you so dirty? Are you some kind of scavenger?” He teases, causing the laughter of his friends.

“Something like that,” The laughs stop and now everyone sees me confused, I shrug. It was not a lie.

“Let’s go, it’s already starting to stink,” says the girl covering her nose and the three leave.

I frown and take the top of my blouse and bring it to my nose, it may not be the best smell, but I don’t think it’s that bad.

“You should change,” says Ben.

“I’ll do it later, shouldn’t you be with others?” He tenses.

“I’m not very friendly” He grumbles

“Yeah, I also had trouble making friends. Once, a group did not want to play with me and they made fun of me, so I found a dump with several parts of ships and torn fabrics and made a helmet, when it got dark I scared them. Everyone ran away and shouted, I remember one of them peed in his pants-”

I’m focused on telling the story until I hear his laugh, I look at him.

“Seriously?” He says while still laughing. I nod, laughing as well.

“I guess it was fun, not for them, though.” We both laugh louder.

“It’s a good way to scare away others…” Then we remain silent, “Come on, I’ll accompany you to your room,” I follow him and we both enter the temple, we walk through several corridors, in the distance I can see small cabins.

I follow Ben down some stairs and stop in front of a cabin

“This is mine and Luke said that one,” Points to the one in front, “would be yours.”

I look at him confused.

“When did he say that?” Ben laughs.

“He told us telepathically just now”

“Oh.”

“You will learn, don’t worry. I was also worried when my parents left me here.”

“Do you have parents?” He seems surprised by my question and nods.

“You do not?”

“No. Well, I guess I had them, but they left me. Jara, an old woman, she raised me,” I didn’t care about telling my past, I’m not ashamed and it’s not a lie.

“I’m sorry.”

“Never mind. I better change,” I say pointing to my cabin.

“Oh yeah. Inside are your clothes and follow the stairs there,” Points at the end of the cabins, “and go to the right side, there are ponds where you can bathe,” I nod.

“Thanks, Ben,” I smile at him.

“No problem, Kiara.”

* * *

“Ben did help you?” I nod and Luke seems surprised.

“Why do you look at me like that?” He notices and shakes his head.

“Nothing… he’s not usually… friendly. He does not speak with the others. It surprises me, it’s all, but I’m glad.”

“Okay”

Already dressed like the other students, Luke calls me to enter the temple and tell me what I will see from now on.

“You have questions, it’s time to ask them.”

“When can I read your mind?” I say annoyed and he laughs.

“It will be complicated, especially with my mind, but you will start with the basics.”

“When will you give me a lightsaber?”

“First you will train with droids.”

“How old is Ben?” This question takes him by surprise.

“He’s ten”

Two years older than me, I thought we were the same age.

“Have the others been here a long time? How do I know I reach their level?”

“Calm down, maybe they’re more advanced, but everything will depend on your performance, Ben is one of the best, and learned fast, but some took longer. Not everyone learns the same, Kiara.”

“Will I only learn to do tricks and fight?”

“No,” He laughs again, “Let me explain: There is something called, _‘The force’_ is an energy field, which is produced by cells called _‘midichlorians’_ , all living beings have them, the difference is that we have a greater amount, we are sensitive to it. You, me, Ben, my students. Thanks to this we can create a relationship that allows us, as you say, to do tricks.”

“Cool.”

“Here you will learn to connect and be able to manipulate that energy, so that you are in balance and harmony. When you arrived and saw the landscape of this planet, how did you feel?”

“At ease…”

“That’s what I want to achieve,” He shifts in his place, “But there is another thing you should know: in this balance there must always be a counterpart, the dark side. Long ago there was a war, a force-sensitive person used these skills to manipulate and harness them to create terror and destruction…”

For a moment he loses himself in his thoughts.

Did he knew that person?

Then he returns “Those are called the Sith, we must be careful not to fall on the dark side. Do you remember how the force guided you to my ship?” I nod, “It’s the same, but it can do… bad things. You will understand later.”

It’s a lot of information, my mind hasn’t stopped since I met him, I feel a pain in it and I groan.

“There are many things to remember.”

“I understand, you can go to sleep, Kiara,” I get up from the bench where we were, but before we go, I turn to Luke.

“Are you and Ben family?”

“How…?” He thinks for a moment and then smiles.

“I felt it,” I joke and he nods.

“Is my nephew.”

“Great”

* * *

_**17 years later..** _

“It seems that someone could not sleep well,” I let out a growl as I sit on the side of the co-pilot.

I cross my arms and lean on the seat.

“Leave me alone,” he laughs.

“Stop pouting, are you okay?” I sigh.

“Just nightmares,” Suddenly he gets serious.

“Do you want to talk about that?”

“The last one was when I met Ben. It was only that, when I arrived at the temple, but for some reason, I woke up scared and could no longer sleep well. Besides,” I look at him with a sided smile, “You snore, very loud, you can compete against Chewbacca,” I tease and he looks at me for a moment with a frown, then look back to the front.

I laugh at his reaction.

“Very funny, one day I will record you and we will know who could compete with the Wookie.” I laugh again.

“How much left?” I ask, shifting in my place.

“Little, we are already in its system.”

“I hope this doesn’t end badly” He laughs.

“Knowing us, everything will end in trouble, sweetheart.”

We were silent for a few minutes, I turn to the window on my right side and watch the stars pass near our ship. We have traveled for a long time to many places in the galaxy, I have seen many planets, different cultures, people, climates, but what I like most about travel is the stars, it’s always fascinated me.

Han knows, sometimes he slows down so I can see them, doesn’t matter if we need to get to our meeting with a customer as soon as possible, I appreciate that.

Since I joined his crew, I’ve had time to think about the opportunities I have when traveling (and fleeing) from planet to planet. Now, after so much time, I thought about how much I miss having a place to return. _Home_. When we had the Millenium Falcon I felt that it was kind of a house where to return.

This ship feels strange and although Han and Chewie are with me, I don’t think it’s the same.

“Have you ever thought about returning to Leia?” I blurt out. He’s surprised, “I mean being by her side or always arriving at her own home.” He meditates my words.

“I guess so, sometimes. When we were together, going to work and then returning with… them. It became routine,” Then he let out a small laugh, “I must admit that, when I was young, it was my worst nightmare, but with Leia…” He smiles, “It was different, I liked that routine.”

“But everything got worse and you went back to your lonely job.”

“Okay, yes. But now is not so lonely,” He looks at me sideways, “Don’t tell Chewie, but you’re my favorite,” He winks at me and I laugh.

“I better be,” I tease and he laughs.

“Why do you ask?” I shrug.

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Oh, no” I give a light punch to his arm.

“I was thinking,” I repeat, “that I’ve never had that, I mean, it’s great to be with you, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know. It would be… nice, to have a home to return to, maybe… someone waiting for me.”

Han looks at me strangely and I don’t blame him, this is not my usual attitude, but it is something I wanted to say.

Now I yearn something different.

I no longer want to run away.


	3. Chapter 3

“Wow, stop there. Are we going to help them? ” Han growled, nodding. I put my hand on his shoulder and force him away from the boys. “Han, this may come at the hands of the First Order, He could see me! We are risking a lot ”

“Quiet, Kid. That will not happen. We will deliver the droid to Leia and then we will leave”

“Is that your plan?” I ask incredulously.

“Basically.”

“Your plans never work, Solo. I have a bad feeling"

“Hey, we won’t let him hurt you again, everything will be fine” I raise my eyebrows.

“He could hurt you too, Han”

“I don’t believe it, but we will not reach those situations. Come on, Breathe”

* * *

“Chewie, I already told you that I will not. No matter how much you beg,” the Wookie continues to complain, among his growls I can understand that he already wants the bandage removed, even if he still bleeds a little. “I already told you no,” I say and then leave the ship.

I walk ignoring Chewbacca and find the pretty planet that already knew, I know that the friend Han was referring to was Maz, I can’t wait to see her again. I walk around the falcon to check if it has any other breakdown and when I don’t find it I decide to go to the front, where Han and Rey are chatting while they see the lake.

“I was thinking of having more crew, Rey,” I stop at Han’s words. I frown uncertainly, he had never mentioned that before. “A second officer. Somebody help me. Someone to keep up with Chewie and me and appreciate the falcon”

Wait, what?

“But, I thought Kiara was your second officer,” she replies. I am his second officer! “Wait, are you offering me a job?” Her tone changes, she seems excited.

I do not understand what is happening, Han is going to fire me? After so many years? How dare he? And without telling me before.

I feel a terrible pain in my chest and I move back so that I no longer listen to them. Did I do something wrong? I thought that-

In that Chewie and Finn walk out of the ship.

“Chewie,“ says Han turning "Check the ship,” I already did it and he didn’t even notice it, of course how was he going to do it? If you are preparing my replacement. I bite my bottom lip, he doesn’t trust me anymore?

Ok, I can accept someone else in the crew, it would be great to have another girl on board, especially her, but Han said he needed a second officer. What about me? I’m not good enough, right? I tense my body when I look at Rey. A couple of sounds distract me, BB-8 approaches and tells me that the little stones around me shook for a moment, as if it were a tremor. Oh no.

“It’s nothing” I sigh relaxing. “Sometimes it happens” without saying anything else, we all walk towards a construction at the end of the lake.

“Solo, why are we here?” Finn asks.

“To take your droid on a clean ship. The first order must have already detected us, we must change it to protect ourselves. Maz Katana is our best option to bring BB-8 to the resistance.” We arrive at the huge entrance of the building, high decorated with flags, symbols and statues.

“Can we trust her?” Finn asks.

“Relax, kid. She drove this trough for a thousand years.” We climbed the entrance stairs. “Maz is an acquired taste, so let me talk to me”

“Sure, as if that had worked for us before,” I say sarcastically.

“Whatever you do, don’t stare at it,” he adds ignoring me.

“Stare at what?“ Rey and Finn ask at the same time making me laugh.

“Nowhere”

The music plays and we find different types of creatures and races, Han and I get ahead, while the other two are admiring the place.

Suddenly we hear a shout "Han Solo!” causing all the attention to be focused on us. Great.

“Hi, Maz,” Han says awkwardly. Maz approaches and everyone turns to their own business.

“Where is my boyfriend?” She questions.

“Chewie is working on the Falcon”

“I like that Wookie,” She says making me laugh. She notices my presence. “Oh and my dear girl, Kiara,” She adds taking my hands.

“It’s nice to see you again, Maz,” I said, leaning a little toward her small height.

“My pleasure, honey,” She says adjusting her huge glasses and returns to Han. “But I assume they aren’t here just to say hello.” You need something, desperately. Let’s get to the point,” She says, gesturing with her hand and walking to a table, we all follow her.

When we sit down, BB-8 tells her why we are here.

“A map? To Skywalker himself?” She laughs, looking at Han and me. "You got into trouble again,” she teases.

“Maz, I need you to take this droid to Leia,” She thinks.

“No,“ we all look surprised. "You two have long been escaping this fight. Go home,” I move in my uncomfortable chair.

"Leia doesn’t want to see me,” Han adds, denying.

“She would kill me if she sees me again,” I feel the confused looks of Finn and Rey, but I ignore them.

“What battle?” Rey asks.

“The only battle, against the dark side” oh, here comes “Through time, I saw evil take many forms. The Sith, the Empire. Today the First Order. Its shadow spreads throughout the galaxy. We have to face them”

After that Finn goes defensive saying that no one can against the First Order. Maz analyzes it and notices that this guy just wants to run away. Rey tries to convince him, but he gets up and goes to other creatures that can help him. Rey follows.

"That went well,” I say. I look up at the man, “I guess your crew broke again, Solo,” I say smiling.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, just that you’ll still be stuck with me and Chewie”

“What?” He frowns, but then changes to realize, “You heard me talk to Rey,” I clench my teeth.

“When were you going to tell me? Leaving me on some uninhabited planet? ”

"Kid, it’s not what you think, I-”

“I know what happens, Han. I’m not 18 anymore.” I get up from my chair and walk to the exit.

“Where are you going?”

“You should worry about my replacement,” I say and finally leave.

I walk towards the forest, my anger clouds my senses and all I can do is move on without knowing exactly where I’m going.

Among the trees, with my eyes fixated on my feet, my only company is the animals that live there, but the sound of nature is replaced by the same voice that has been chasing me, this time it is not a whisper.

I stop and look up looking around. _Then you are a threat_ , it’s heard as an echo between the trees, followed by the sound of a lightsaber being activated. My head goes in all directions trying to find the origin of the voice, but there is no one else.

The pain in my head interrupts the sounds and every time it is more stabbing, I close my eyes. Now what I can hear is the agitated beat of my heart. My legs fail and I fall to my knees, screaming in pain until a memory comes to my mind.

_Smoke enters the cabin causing Kiara to wake up confused. With difficulty,_ _s_ _he sits on_ _her_ _bed and begins to cough._ _Sh_ _e doesn_ _’_ _t understand what is happening, with_ _her_ _sleepy eyes_ _s_ _he can see that a powerful light enters the small wooden openings of_ _her_ _cabin. She gets out of bed and without thinking takes her lightsaber and leaves._

_Bewilderment and fear govern_ _her_ _surroundings: everything is engulfed in flames, cries of help from their companions are heard in the distance. She looks to her right towards the path of the other cabins, she prepares to go, but a whisper interrupts her, at first she fails to understand and that is when she notices._

_“Ben” whispers and looks straight ahead,_ _s_ _he must go help others, but he is first._ _Sh_ _e returns and goes to the road to his friend’s bedroom, but finds the cabin completely destroyed, his heart falls to think the worst. She shakes her head and closes her eyes for a moment concentrating on feeling the bond they both share._

_“Ben” says in_ _her_ _mind_ _,_ _n_ _othing_ _,_ _“Ben!”_

_“Kiara, you must come with me_ _,”_ _he replies causing relief in the girl._

_"Where are you? You’re good?_ _W_ _e must help others, someone is destroying everything,_ _”_ _S_ _he says_ _and_ _opens_ _her_ _eyes._

_"Come with me_ _.”_

_"Ben, listen to me. Do you know where Luke is?” She returns to the other cabins._

_“Stop!”_ _S_ _he obeys_ _,_ _scared by the shout_ _,_ _“you must come with me, forget them, everyone is already dead_ _,”_ _S_ _he frowns._ _She_ _can feel the danger everywhere_ _,_ _"Luke is the cause of all this_ _.”_

_"No, that’s not true_ _,”_ _tears fall down_ _her_ _cheeks_ _,_ _”_ _t_ _hey are screaming, we can still do something"_

_“_ _Everything is lost, Kiara. Go to the temple entrance. We’re both in danger, I won’t let Luke hurt you._ _”_

“No! Enough!” I scream towards the forest and I sit on the ground. My cheeks are wet and my chest rises and falls quickly, “No more tricks!”

Suddenly I hear the sound of engines, I look up and a group of ships cross the sky, they are ships of the First Order.

“BB-8,“ I clean my face and get up quickly, returning to Maz’s building. When I have vision of the entrance, the blaster shots start by making me stop. The ships shoot at the buildings, they all shout and run when they see the stormtroopers.

” _We won’t get to that_ ,“ I repeat Han’s words. “Sure”

I take out my blaster while I run and shoot the soldiers that I find on my way. In a moment I must hide among a pile of rubble to avoid the shots, only when I think it is convenient, I look out and continue with the fight.

“Where the hell is she?” I hear Han’s scream among all the noise.

I look carefully, but I can’t see where they are, so I hide and return to the forest, behind a leafy tree. In the distance I see Chewie and Han running in the opposite direction to mine. My next move is to change places, for a shot against my tree stops me and by reflection I bend down, with difficulty I go towards some rocks. Through the small spaces between rocks, I can see four stormtroopers raising their weapons towards my direction. “Shit.”

“Will she be the girl they are looking for?” says one of them.

“I don’t know, but we must take her”

The girl they are looking for? _Rey_.

The shots stop and I hear his steps approaching me. I smile at the thought of an idea and keep my blaster behind my pants.

“Please stop,” I say, raising my arms out slowly. “Don’t hurt me, I’ll go with you” Such a good actress.

“Wait for her and warn Kylo Ren,” two of them approach, while another pulls out a small device, and I take advantage of the distraction.

"We have the girl-” I take out my gun and shoot at four. Everyone falls easily.

“No, you don’t.”

Suddenly I hear screams, but this time they sound excited, they are screams of victory in the distance, different ships fly and attack those of the First Order. The resistance.

"Back off!” the soldiers stop attacking and run to their ships.

I run back to the fortress. Several huge pieces of concrete obstruct my path, so I climb one of them to have a better vision and to continue.

Everything changes when my sight falls on a specific enemy ship. The entrance ramp is down and a black figure with a girl in her arms walks towards her.

“Holy Shit,” My feet fail and I fall to the ground covered with debris and glass. I complain when I feel something bury in my back.

"Kid!” Han comes to my side, “Are you alright?”

“My ego hurts right now,” I say getting up with his help. When I’m already stable, I don’t hesitate to hit his shoulder hard.

“Why was that?” He says complaining. “You should respect your elders, girl”

“Will we just hand them the droid and leave?” I yell at him and he makes a face.

“Did he see you?” He questions worriedly. I shake my head.

“I don’t think so”

“Rey!” We both turn to the other voice. Finn screams at the ship where Kylo Ren entered a few moments ago. Wait, he has Rey and she…

“Oh no…”

"What?” Han asks. My hands shake as I realize.

“I won’t be able to hide anymore”


	4. Chapter 4

All enemy ships flee leaving destruction in their wake.

“They took her, you saw that?” Finn says coming to our side.

A new ship lands near us. We all go to her. The exit ramp opens and several Resistance soldiers leave to verify the perimeter.

My heart jumps when I see a woman leave the same vehicle.

“Oh, oh-“ My instinct is to hide behind the Wookie. I’m surprised that Han is still in place, the couple recognizes each other.

“Goodness! Han Solo, I’m C-3PO,” Says the golden droid when he sees Han.“You may not recognize me by the red arm”

Maybe the most annoying droid of all. Sure, just interrupt a moment between them. After a moment he notices and leaves with BB-8.

"You changed your hair,” Idiot, that’s what he is. I peek through Chewie’s hairy arm.

"Same jacket,” she replies, making me smile.

“No, it’s new,” In that Chewie approaches the woman.

"Nowait- Chewie,” I whispered, but it’s too late, he’s already hugging her. I stay in my place waiting for a miracle. If I don’t move, she may not see me.

"I saw him,” continues Han, "Leia, I saw your son, he was here”

She nods and doesn’t waste time, orders everyone to return to the ships and go to the Resistance base… totally ignoring my presence.

That’s good right? It was what I wanted.

So why did it hurt?

* * *

Upon arriving at the base, all the memories of the first time I was in such a place return. All running, fixing their ships, shouting orders.

I follow the group and we all enter the strategy area, Chewie leaves to have his wound checked, Han follows Leia and the others always have something to do. And once again I… don’t.

I feel a knot in my stomach, everything is the same. The new, lost girl who doesn’t know what to do among so many adults. I’m not a pilot, I don’t have a position in command, I don’t know anyone. I only get in the way.

My hands sweat and I move away a little from the command control where Leia argues with other people. I lean on a pillar and watch her.

Her brown and gray hair is collected in an elaborate hairstyle, some wrinkles and expression lines are most noticeable. When was the last time I saw her?

“General Organa,” Says a man coming to the panel with Finn behind him. “He’s Finn. He needs to talk to you ”

"And I need to talk to him,” She replies. “That was incredibly brave, what you did.”

Bla blabla. I decide to get away from all that, I walk until I get to the part where there are many boxes and I sit on one of them. I play with my hands nervously.

How the hell did we get to this? A few hours ago we were about to deliver some monsters, then we found the falcon with two guys and a droid, then Han wants to replace me and now I’m back on a resistance base. And to top it all… I’m sure Kylo is seeing in Rey’s memories and he’ll see me in them.

Anonymity is over, he will haunt me, destroy everything in his path and finish what it started when we were young.

"That’s when I lost them both” I hear Leia approach. I hide among the boxes and just peek a little to realize that she is talking to Han.

“We both had to deal with that in our own way. I returned to the only thing I’m good at.”

“We both did it,” She says, "And you took a new crewman”

I hide more.

“We lost our son. Forever.”

“Do not. It was Snoke. He made our son go to the dark side,” How innocent she can be. "But we can still save him,” I don’t believe it. “You, me and Kiara”

My breath gets stuck and I leave my hiding place

“Wow, stop there,” They both turn to watch me, "How can you say that? Save him? You’re crazy” Some soldiers stop and watch us, surprised at my words towards their general. And now I regret it, my nerves return.

"I missed you too, Kiara,” She says sweetly.

“Stop. Stop doing that.”

"What are you talking about?”

“Kiara, don’t talk to her like that,” Han adds behind her, I roll my eyes.

“Oh, now are you going to scold me? A few hours ago you wanted to replace me,” I remind him and he huffs.

“What- You what?“ Leia reproaches Han, he’s now nervous.

"No, I wasn’t going to do it, it’s not what you think-“ Leia sighs. I cross my arms over my chest.

“Very well, you two need to talk, but first. You-” She points to me and I look at her scared, “Come with me”

She takes my arm and takes me to a secluded place.

"What was all that, young lady?”

“What are you talking about? The fact that I came back? That I yell at you Or that Han is going to leave me on the first uninhabited planet?”

“Leave the teenager act, I remind you that you’re no longer one. You’re a woman, act like it.”

"That’s not funny,” I grimace. I walk from one place to another, if I don’t do it, I may go into crisis.

She laughs, “I never said it was”

Her laugh manages to calm me a little and I stop walking. She watches me.

“You have become a beautiful woman, Kiara” She approaches a little and caress my cheek. “Why are you afraid of me?”

I look at her in surprise, she laughs and puts her hand away.

“I know you very well. Besides, I saw you hiding behind Chewie”

My technique failed.

“I thought you would be angry to see me,” I say in a whisper.

“Why would I be?” I bite my lip.

“Because I chose Han instead of you…”

“My girl, I’m not upset. You made a decision. I must admit that it was painful to see you leave the falcon without saying goodbye. But I knew you would be safe with him.”

"Sorry,” I say in a fragile voice. She hugs me and I have to bend down a little to hug her back.

“It’s okay. I’m glad to see you,” After a few moments we parted and smiled.

"Bad moment?” Says Han coming to our side.

“Not really, I have things to do.” Leia winks and leaves.

“Are you calmer or should I bring Chewie?” I scoff. “Okay, I can explain it-“

“What was all that with Rey? I thought I was your second officer, I thought I was part of your family,” I say, lowering my voice.

"You are,” He says quickly. “I offered the job to the girl, I liked her and she knows about ships, I thought it could be useful for us”

“But you were going to give her my place” He puts his hands on his waist.

“I’ve been thinking about what we talk about… having a home” I look surprised, “With Chewie, we’ve been seeing planets where you can be safe, the plan was to get you a ship and choose a planet together. I think we have been together for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great having you, but it’s time for you to have your life… without me ”

Don’t cry, whatever you do, do not cry. All I do is hit his shoulder, this time not to hard, he complains anyway.

"It would have been better if you had told me first, Solo,” He nods and we both laugh. I hug him and rest my head on his chest. "I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but…” I walk away a bit. "I think that’s my decision, Han. I have to get my things.”

“I could help you.”

"We’ll talk later” I frown, “We have more important things now. Like your psycho son”

* * *

A bunch of people is around the panel and now me as well, obviously close to Leia.

I can see the man who entered with Finn.

Frowning, I hear Leia’s laugh.

"Don’t you recognize him?” I look at her.

“Should I?”

“I can remember you were friends when you were in my care”

No, the only friend I had was…

“It can’t be,” I say, looking back at the pilot and Leia laughs again. I make my way through the people and come to his side

“Poe Dameron?” He turns to see me.

“Yes?”

“I can’t believe it. Are you a pilot now? That’s what you always wanted!” I say excitedly and he still doesn’t recognize me. Finn is by his side.

"They know each other?”

“Yes-“

“No,” We say at the same time.

“What? I’m offended, Space boy.” When he hears the nickname, Poe’s dark eyes widen and then smiles.

"Kiara?” I laugh when he doesn’t hesitate to hug me, for a moment he lifts me up a bit. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I can’t believe you’re taller than me now!” I say, ruffling his wavy hair. We both laugh.

"It’s been years, little Beast,” I growl when I hear his not-so-original nickname.

We could not continue as the meeting had begun, Poe’s smile is replaced by a serious and professional face, almost making me laugh, he notices and gives me a push, then continues.

Everyone explains the new First Order plan, Finn gives information about the new Death Star and its new weapons to destroy planets. Somehow everyone has something to say and upon receiving news that the new aim of the weapon is this system, everyone is looking for a way to destroy it.

Finn, being a former stormtrooper, knows how to do it. We must destroy an oscillator to destabilize the weapon. But first we must remove the shields, with Finn’s help.

“I can deactivate the shields, but I must be there, on the planet”

“We can take you,” Says Han, looking at Chewie.

“How, Han?” Says Leia, worried.

“If I tell you, you wouldn’t like it”

“Then, we deactivate the shields, then we eliminate the oscillator and we burst their big weapon”

“I’ll go too,” I say, catching their attention. Han looks at me and nods with a smile, Chewie roars.

“Let’s go,” Says Poe, and everyone goes to prepare. I catch Poe’s arm.

“We’re not done with that conversation, Space boy,” He smiles, I get on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek.

"Good luck, beast”

Han, Chewie, Finn and I prepare everything for the Falcon.

“You know? No matter how much we fight, I always hate to see you go,” Says Leia, approaching Han.

"That’s why I did it,” he says, making her laugh. “So you miss me"

“I’m going to throw up,” I say as I help Finn load some things to the ship.

They glance at me and laugh.

“Some things don’t change,” Han adds.

"That’s true, you still drive me crazy” Leia then looks at me. “You both do,” Han hugs her and I let them have their moment. After they break apart, I approach and hug her too.

"You must come back too, honey, I know you won’t like this, but I know you can bring him back,” My body tenses.

“All I can do is prevent him from killing me, Leia,” She raises her eyebrows and I huff, "I’ll try”

She nods satisfied.

“But I’ll only do it for you, there’s no other reason,” She laughs.

“We’ll see that,” She says, teasing me.

* * *

At the speed of light, the falcon is getting closer and closer to the target and I hope it won’t be destroyed along the way.

“Are we going to land at the speed of light?” Finn asks.

“Kiara, Chewie, get ready”

“This is going to be difficult,” I say sitting in the cabin.

“Now!” Han indicates and we reach the snowy planet where the weapon is. With difficulty, Han evades the mountains that are on our way, but no one watched the trees. The born crashes into some until it lands heavily in the snow.

The four of us put on jackets for the icy weather and we go out, we don’t waste time, we don’t approach the base of the First Order. We arrive and lean on a metal wall, Finn gives us directions.

"What was your job when you were there?” asks Han.

“Sanitation.“

"Wait what?” I say between angry and amused. We are following a former cleaning stormtrooper. Sounds like a joke.

Han and Finn argue when they know Finn’s true intentions: to recover Rey.

“Solo, we’ll solve it. We’ll use force” And with that I laugh.

“That is not how the Force works.”

"I like this guy…”

Chewie complains and the four of us follow the path. We arrive at a door and Chewie shoots a Stormtrooper on guard.

“The more we are here, the less luck we’ll have. The shields,” Says Han when the door closes behind us.

"I have an idea…”

Finn gains control with a stormtrooper called Phasma and forces her to help us deactivate the shields when we enter a control room.

"Han, if this works, it won’t give us time to go for Rey.”

“Calm down, Kid. We won’t leave without her”

The whisper returns, distracting me from the plan.

But this time is different.

_Kiara_

This time I don’t try to stop it. We all leave the control room and they decide to go down the halls in search of Rey, but I stop, Han notices.

“Kid, what are you doing?”

"I think you know it,” We share a look.

"Are you sure about this?”

“Of course not,” He nods.

“What’s going on?” Finn asks.

“Kiara knows what she’s doing, she must go somewhere else”

“But Rey-“

“You go for her. I have to solve some issues…”

* * *

I have no idea where I’m going, but on the way I get rid of some enemy soldiers and keep running through the halls until I see a whole team of Stormtroopers, they all raise their weapons and I can only point them with my blaster.

“Stop,” says a robotic voice. Soldiers obey, standing aside to give way. A tall man with black mask and tunic arrives at the head of his army. “Leave us” orders and they all go their way.

Face to face I meet the person who has hurt me the most.

“Black makes you look thinner,” I joke to hide the imminent terror that runs through my body, I can hear his breathing.

"You should be dead,” he says in a modulated voice.

“You should’ve gone to therapy, but none of those things happened.”

“You were with him. Han Solo,” He walks around me, I imitate it. We both walked in a circle to avoid being close.

"And now you feel stupid for not knowing,” I say, he growls. "I know you very well…” We stop moving, “ _Ben_.”

“You’re wrong. He died that night”

"That’s not true, just changed his name to a very stupid one”

"Enough!” He shouts, startling me. “Enough games!”

“Or what?” I feel a lump in my throat, “You’ll crush me with thousands of rocks?“

“You think you’re brave. But I can feel your fear, I may not be able to see your mind, but your feelings open before me. As usual. You walked away from the Force, but you can’t run from me,” I clench my teeth.

"I can’t take you seriously if you wear that ridiculous mask,” For a few seconds he does nothing, until his hands go to the mask, he presses some buttons and lifts it out of his head.

My breath is cut when I see it. His long black hair, his face full of freckles, his eyes… those brown eyes that one day drove me crazy, now they are darker.

Everything is full of darkness. We both watched each other for a few moments.

“How is it possible that you are alive?” It’s weird to hear it without the machine. His voice is serious. No longer childish.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t like it,” My eyes teared up. "Leia thinks I can help you.”

“She’s a fool”

“I also told her that” I laugh sarcastically, “I told her I would try, but I don’t think someone so vile and cruel deserves my help” he tenses and pulls out his lightsaber, I step back and raise my blaster.

“I don’t need your help, nor anyone else’s” He notices the absence of my old weapon and mocks.

“You’re still a dumb girl, Kiara,” I shudder at hearing my name.

He raises his saber and I start shooting, he dodges the shots and at some point we’re very close. I throw my gun and take his arm that holds his.

Because of the height, strength and training, he manages to push me easily making me fall. I dodge his attacks and hit his knee causing him to also fall near me. I try to run away, but he takes my arms immobilizing me.

“So weak and silly. Without force you are a nobody…

“So stupid and weak without your dear Snoke and without your mask, you’re a nobody” I feel a pressure in my throat.

Kylo uses force to choke me. I search for air, but the pressure doesn’t last long and I cough when I’m released. Kylo gets up, seems focused elsewhere, then returns.

“The Supreme Leader wants you alive,” He says, looking at me on the floor.

"How considerate” I groan, getting up with difficulty.

“I’ll take you with him” I smile.

“First you’ll have to catch me, little Ben.”


	5. Chapter 5

An alarm causes the lights to turn red and make it harder to see. I take advantage of the situation and hit his face, Kylo complains and moves away and with what I have left of strength and dignity, I get up and run through the halls. The only good idea that could occur at a time like this.

He is clearly better than me, I couldn’t win that battle. I tried, Leia. The plan didn't work, it's time to run away.

I don't know how, but I get to a rather strange part of the barracks, boxes are arranged in different corners… I walk slowly to avoid crossing someone, unfortunately I lost my blaster in the fight, so I ought to be careful. Everything is silent, until I almost had a heart attack when I hit against someone.

"Chewie, you almost escarde me to death!” He just growls, I can understand that he’s scolding me, "I just had to take care of something- it didn't work, now we must go!”

The Wookie explained the plan to me: Han and him were setting detonators all over that sector, they had to me in one place.

"Well, let's go with Han!”

I follow Chewie, we hear voices just before we reach a hall. A single runner crosses a ... cliff? Who designs these things?

"Ben!" Han's voice echoes. The Wookie and I get closer. Han is downstairs and Kylo Ren, who has the stupid mask again, is in the corridor.

"Han Solo, I waited a long time for this day to come.”

Oh, no. I lean on the rail. Han walks until he’s close to Kylo. I have a bad feeling. I look up at the floors above, Rey and Finn have entered and also observe the scene, Chewie approaches my side.

"Take off your mask, you don't need it.” If I were in another situation I’d laugh, Kylo doesn't understand that mask is ridiculous.

"What do you think you'll see if I do it?"

"My son's face," Han replies. Kylo obeys and removes the mask.

“Your son is gone, he was weak and dumb like his father. You all wanted to change me, but you failed, so I destroyed him,” explains Kylo, Han approaches carefully.

“That's what Snoke wants you to believe. But it is not true. My son is alive ”

“Don't. The supreme leader is wise.”

The whole conversation continues in a tense moment, I know that if I approach everything can fall, they’re in a very dangerous position.

“Snoke is using you for your power. When he has what he wants, he will destroy you. You know it's true ”

"It's too late" his voice breaks and my heart does too.

Now I can see how a part of Ben comes out. The memory of when we were young comes and a knot forms in my stomach.

"It is not. Get out of here with Kiara and me. Come home. We miss you"

"I've been torn apart" he says, “I want to get rid of this suffering. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength. Will you help me?"

“Yes, whatever you need" His mask falls and my breathing is cut short.

Kylo takes out his saber and offers it to his father. They both take it, but something distracts us all: the light that illuminated them disappears. For a few moments, nobody moves. I feel a tingling in my hands and a little pain in my temple.

_Ben_ _._

Kylo looks up and his eyes meet mine for a few seconds, then turns to Han.

Suddenly the red saber lights up and goes through Han's body. I hold my breath. No no no no! Rey screams and Chewie roars in pain.

Han's body falls. Tears fall down my cheeks and intense pain fill my entire body. I step back a few feet away. Chewie roars again and with his gun shoots at Kylo, hitting him on the leg. He screams and falls to his knees. All my attention is focused on Kylo and anger clouds all my senses.

“You! Fucking shit, he was your father!”

I shout as I try to go downstairs, but Chewbacca takes me by the arm. A Stormtrooper starts shooting at us, the Wookie drives me away protecting me.

“Leave me, Chewie, I'm going to kill him. I swear I will!”

My attempts fail and he drags me to a safe place as more soldiers arrive. Then he stops and presses a button that activates the bombs. Everything starts to explode. Chewie gets distracted, I get out of his grip and run back. Despite the explosions I see Kylo's black figure leave the barracks, I don’t hesitate to follow him.

I walk through the snow-covered forest, the darkness makes me lose it, but everything changes when he turns on his lightsaber, its light shines on two other people. Rey and Finn are within walking a little further behind Kylo.

"We aren’t done yet" None have noticed my presence. My body trembles.

“You're a monster," Rey says resentfully.

“We are. Han Solo can't save you.” Rey lifts her blaster, but Kylo throws it through the air and hits a tree. Finn goes with her.

"You're more idiotic than I thought," I said and he stops, turns and share a look.

"No one can defend you anymore"

"I can do it alone” He raises his saber, "How could you do that to one of the people who loved you the most?"

“Everything’s part of the training, it was necessary”

“You're a bastard!" I don't mind being unarmed. I run to him and manage to take him by the shoulders, but he easily pushes me away.

"Stupid girl! Do you really think you can against my power? ”

"Maybe I don’t," All this talk served as a distraction so Finn could get close. Out of nowhere, a blue light comes out behind Kylo. The boy has Luke's saber.

“That lightsaber. It belongs to me,” says Kylo.

"Come find it,” Finn confronts Kylo. The sabers collide producing noise. Clearly Kylo has more experience than Finn.

While they fight away, I get desperate and look everywhere waiting for a miracle.

"Come on, there has to be something... magic, I know-" I frown and sigh. I can't believe I have to do this again.

I sit on the floor on my knees, close my eyes and try to concentrate. It’s time to ask for help. I hear a scream from Finn, causing me to open my eyes. Kylo's saber is hurting him. I get up, but I'm still not sure what to do.

Finn flees the attack and both continue fighting until Kylo manages to remove his weapon and hurts the boy in the back. Finn falls unconscious in the snow.

"Okay, enough of games" I see where the blue saber fell. I sigh, all the noise around me goes away. I raise my arm in that direction. I can feel it.

The snow falling, the trees fallen by the fight, I feel Rey, Finn, I can feel that Kylo also wants the saber.

"Not this time,” Finally, the force allows me to take the saber that belonged to the master Luke. My hand trembles a little and I see the weapon with surprise. I shake my head and return to Kylo.

I position myself, remembering the training of many years ago, I press the button and the saber lights up. Kylo also lights his.

"Let's see your dance steps, Ben," I joke, he growls and rushes over to me. The clash of arms begins.

He’s strong and determined to finish with me, but I am faster, dodge attacks and defend myself.

"Silly girl," he says with difficulty.

"You've said it before,” We run through the forest, cutting trees with sabers. I feel the sweat run down my back, forehead and neck. The fact of not having trained for a long time is already taking account.

While we fight, the ground shakes, I try to see what happens, but Kylo makes it difficult. I see from a distance how far the ground is breaking into thousands pieces. I kick him in the stomach to get away.

Poe. They had to continue with the plan, the planet is being destroyed. I smile, but it doesn't last long. A stabbing pain centers on my right thigh. I let out a shriek and fall to the ground, throwing my gun in the process.

The saber's wound draws smoke, I try to touch it, but the burning is unbearable. I look up and Kylo watches me panting.

"I could destroy you or take you with the supreme leader to finish your training-“

"I'm sorry, I have plans," I say through my teeth.

He growls and tenses his body.

“It'll be the first option then," He raises his weapon, but before he could do anything, Luke's saber is shot in the distance. We both turn to meet Rey.

"You won’t,” She says and runs to Kylo, a new fight begins, but this time they’re in danger of falling into the abyss. In a second, both are on the edge.

"I can show you the ways of the force,” What is it with offering its services?

Something seems to connect with Rey and suddenly, he manages to get out of Kylo's attack. With great skill she attacks, now she’s superior to Kylo, which makes me feel like a proud mom. The girl manages to beat Kylo. I let out a shriek when she hurts Kylo in the face. As I can, I get up and walk limping towards her.

The man is on the ground with serious wounds, the biggest is the one that goes from his forehead, through his nose, under his right eye and through his cheek. The three of us share a look, but mine focuses on him.

It hurts to see it that way… No! He’s no longer that boy I met when I was just a child.

Every connection is cut when the ground shakes again, this time very close to us. My legs fail and the earth is destroyed right where I am. Everything happened too fast.

My body falls and I try to reach anything to hold myself without success. I scream with despair and the last thing I hear is Rey's screams.

"Kiara!" Then I felt a heavy blow to my head, and everything went black.

__________________

As soon as Kylo Ren senses danger, he ignores the pain in his body and sits on the snow, which is shaking by the earthquake.

Then he sees that the black-haired girl screams and her body falls into the abyss, but just before that happens, Kylo uses the force and makes the girl levitate a little, enough to take her hand, pull her body until she’s by his side.

He clenches his teeth at the effort and again the pain comes. He looks up and the scavenger sees him from the other side of the abyss, seems not to believe what she’s seeing, looks everywhere, but sees no other way out, doubts seeing Kiara's body, but in the end she turns and runs away.

Kiara's unconscious body is still close, a thread of blood runs down her forehead to her chin. Kylo growls and kneels beside her. Taking deep breaths and with the help of force, he puts his arms under the girl's neck and knees and lifts her in his arms. He grunts and closes his eyes for a few moments, but then continues on his way. His body trembles with the pain and the destruction of the planet.

Before everything collapsed, Kylo Ren arrives on a First Order ship with a new crew on board.

______________________

Back at the Resistance base, Rey tells everything that happened to General Organa. Everyone feels the intense pain for the losses of a great battle, Han was the most significant loss for some, but what surprised most were the following words of Rey:

“He saved her- Kiara was going to fall, but Kylo saved her. The last thing I could see was that he carried her on his arms and left.”

The others murmur surprised by the actions of the man. But Leia, sitting near the control panel smiles.

“He's going to torture her, we must go," says Poe, drawing attention, Rey nods.

"No," says Leia and they both look at her strangely.

"Poe is right, Kylo Ren won’t hesitate to hurt her,” Leia sees the two young men still with a smile. “You're smiling. Why?"

Leia laughs and gets up.

“She'll be fine, Rey.”

"How can you be so sure?" Poe asks.

"Because my son fell in love with her before the darkness took over his mind.”


	6. Chapter 6

"You may wonder why I keep a rabid dog in such a place of power?" Snoke says looking at his apprentice kneeling a few meters away. “The weakness of the dog, well manipulated, can be an affiliated tool. How is your wound? ”

"It is nothing," He replies, looking down through the mask.

"The mighty Kylo Ren" continues Snoke as he gets up and walks towards his apprentice "When I found you. I saw what all teachers live to see: Wild and untamed power. And beyond that, something really special. The potential of your lineage. A new Vader. Now I'm afraid I'm wrong.” Kylo looks up.

"Everything I have, I have given to you. To the dark side ”

"Not yet. Take off that ridiculous mask,” Kylo obeys, showing the scar from the ancient battle on his face.

"You have too much of your father's heart in you, Young Solo.”

"I killed Han Solo. When the time came, I did not hesitate.”

“And look at you, the act broke your spirit to the bone. You were unbalanced. You were won by a scavenger who had never held a lightsaber! Oh, and the that girl, you could destroy her, having multiple opportunities, but you didn't. You are still weak! You failed!" At the words of their leader, Kylo stands ready to fight, but Snoke does not allow it, throwing lightning causing Kylo to fall. “Skywalker lives. The seed of the Jedi Order lives. Convert the girl, find Skywalker before hope and light rule. If not, you're just a kid with a mask.”

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

_"I don't know what to do," I say as tears fall down my cheeks. I hug my legs and lean against the wall. I feel his hand on my back._

_"I think it would be better to stay with Leia_ _.”_

_"No, I can't do it. Hear everyone how they should prepare for battle. The first order, I can't. I don't want to know anything about him and he can't know that I'm still alive_ _._ _”_ _Han sighs._

_"I can't offer you much, Kiara. I_ _t’_ _ll only be Chewie and me, the_ _missions_ _are sometimes difficult and dangerous_ _._ _”_

_"I can help, I won't be a hindrance, please Han. I need to get out of here_ _._ _" He_ _huffs_ _in defeat_ _._

_“_ _Okay_ _-“_ _I smile and hug him tightly "Okay, okay_ _!_ _B_ _ut I have conditions,_ _” H_ _e says as we_ _break apart._

_“_ _Wh_ _ich are?”_

_"You must learn everything about the falcon, when I tell you to run, you obey and... once we leave this planet there is no going back_ _,_ _"_ _H_ _e grimaces._

_At first I_ _hesitate_ _, I wouldn't be able to see Leia in a long time. I bite my lip and sigh._

_“Deal._ _"_

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I’m scared.

My chest rises and falls quickly, I feel the sweat all over my body and when I am fully conscious, the pain returns. I look around me and try to remember everything. The images come like flashes, the tears return when I remember Han's fall.

That man who took care of me and protected me for many years, gone. All because a child is lost and blinded by power.

I try to move my arms, but I realize where I am. The stretcher is now vertical, my wrists and ankles are caught between pieces of metal. I lean my head against the uncomfortable surface and sigh.

Suddenly the door opens, I take a breath as I feel his presence.

"How was your meeting? Snoke already scolded you? Did he punish you because of me?” I spat. I listen to his steps until he reaches my side. I pout at the sight of his scar. “Did you cry? What happened to your mask?”

“Enough.” I laugh at his reaction.

"Oh, little Ben. As much as you wear black clothes, you’ll not be able to hide the little boy who can’t tolerate my jokes”

"They were never good" I open my mouth pretending to be offended.

"That hurts, Ben.”

"Stop calling me that.”

“That's your name.”

"No more.” I roll my eyes.

"Okay, fine, whatever you say... Ben.” He growls and I laugh again.

"I guess you haven't heard the news?"

"Are you pregnant? Oh no, am I the mom?!” He glares at me.

"The ship the Resistance leader was in has been damaged,” My smile disappears.

"You lie"

Now he smiles.

"No more jokes?"

"I know it's not true, you’d never harm your mother, a monster like you always has a weakness"

"What makes you think she’s my weakness?"

“You're a mommy's child, you always have been," He remains silent for a few minutes.

"Snoke wants to see you," I snort.

"Tell him I'm not here!" He walks behind the table and presses some buttons, in that I feel that my hands and legs are released.

My weak body falls to the floor and I drop on my knee and manage to put my arms before my face crashes. I complain.

“You could’ve warned me…” Kylo sighs and takes my arm, but I walk away. "Don't touch me," I mutter.

He walks towards the door and while he’s doing things I get up with difficulty leaning on the stretcher. The door opens and two Stormtroopers enter the room.

"Take her to the throne room.” The soldiers approach and take me by the arms.

I have no strength to fight, so they drag me. We all leave the room and continue down the hallways to an elevator, the far wall is damaged, at times it sparks, a man is in front of that wall analyzing the damage, but when he sees us he leaves the elevator and allows us to enter.

"I don't think it's a good idea," I say, still looking at the wall.

"It still works," says Kylo when we all go inside.

On the short trail I use the momentum of the soldiers to stand up to see how much I can resist. At that a spark flies off and now I get it. I smile.

“It was you, wasn't it? Snoke made you mad and you took it out on the poor wall. You’re a bad boy, Kylo.”

His body tenses. I know it's a bit risky to want to embarrass him in front of his soldiers, but at this point I don't care anymore. Both stormtroopers stir in place, I go into their minds and I know they want to laugh, but it would be fatal.

We reach the level and the door opens, the soldiers drag me down a corridor and we stop in front of a door. This place is horrible, if I tried to escape, I would lose myself completely. Everything is the same, I don’t find differences. The soldiers make sure I can stand up, and then back off. Kylo points forward and we both go inside.

The hall is huge, in the background is a throne and around it are several soldiers in red armor. Kylo takes my arm and before I could complain, he forces me to walk until I’m close to the throne, behind it comes a huge creature, his face is disfigured and his outfit is barely a robe.

"Ah, Jedi Kiara. I can finally see you.” I grimace. He walks from one side to the other and I feel a little pain in my head. “Your power has been concentrated in your mind, pushing away anyone who wants to enter. Fascinating…” Snoke looks at me and then sees Kylo. "Her body is weak."

“She's been in interrogation for five days,” He answers still holding me.

“Good. Now leave us.”

Kylo hesitates and when I think he’ll drop me, he lightly touches my waist and helps me stabilize. I frown and ignore the tickle on my body.

"Don't say something stupid, not this time.” He whispers in my ear, then releases me and leaves the room.

I return to Snoke.

"What is the great plan, mastermind?”

“Your cynical comments cannot save you from me. From now on I will be your supreme leader and you must show respect.”

To tell the truth, when I saw his image I felt fear and insecurity, so my only way to get it out of my system is to make stupid comments. Maybe it's something I took from Han, or maybe it's just that I’m stupid.

"Not because you create fear and destruction means that I must be forced to respect you.”

"Fear is a step forward of respect"

"I have a different ideology”

"Jedi ideology, I know it well"

"No, not that one either." I shake my head. "I don't think you invited me here just to fight about religions, what the fuck do you want from me?" His features harden and he sits on his throne.

“Your power can be expanded to unimaginable levels, Lang. But everything is being wasted by your emotions. We’ll help you channel it again, but now you are on the right side. You will test your loyalty to the Sith and a new empire will rule the galaxy. I feel your power, your anger and the pain, you can become the best Sith, even better than Kylo Ren.” My legs tremble and my body is begging to rest, but I do my best to stay on my feet.

"And what if I say no?"

Snoke uses force to cause damage, I feel pain everywhere, it’s so sharp that I can’t help falling to the ground. I scream and some tears come out, my chest hurts and I think that at any moment my heart will explode.

"All right!" I manage to say and the pressure stops. I breathe hard, my head is spinning, I don't think I can move.

Snoke raises a hand and Kylo returns, looks at me on the ground and shakes his head, surely it's his way of saying _I told you so_ _._

"Take her to a room. This week she’ll regain strength and then start training.” He orders and Kylo nods. "Kylo Ren will be your new teacher, I hope to have advances soon"

It's the only thing I hear, before I pass out.

The last thing I remember were Kylo's arms holding me, then everything went black.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I slowly open my eyes to find a black wall, I focus my eyes and I can see a bedside table with a lamp on it. My body is waking up and I notice the softness underneath me. I look down and touch the black sheets over my body. I’m in a bed.

On my left side I see an opening, I think that may be a closet, on one side there is a door where I suppose the bathroom is located. On my right side there’s only a huge window that gives me the view of eternal space. A pretty simple room. How the hell did I go from being tortured to being in a luxurious room?

I sit down slowly and with the movement I feel something different. I have a bandage on my leg and my right arm, then I touch my forehead just where my hairline starts and I have a patch covering my wound.

I remember the first day in the interrogation room -as they called it- they barely put anything on my wounds, probably so they wouldn't get infected, but it wasn't the care they needed.

Before I can get out of bed the door opens and Kylo enters, then two droids with trays follow him and approach me. I give him a confused look.

“The hours for you to eat are established: morning, afternoon and night. These droids will bring you food and supplements, as well as check and heal your wounds, then they’ll leave.”

One of them leaves the tray on the nightstand, while the other climbs on the bed and begins to check the wound on my forehead. At first I’m stunned, but I don’t shy away from care.

"I want to think that some woman or droid was responsible for changing my clothes." I look at Kylo who looks away making me chuckle.

Those torture days I didn't change my outfit, when I noticed the bandages I knew that everything was replaced and now I have a black short and a big blouse. The droid changes the bandage on my thigh and then gets off the bed to be on one side of Kylo, the other imitates him. Their master makes a signal and they both leave.

“There's something else about your belongings…” He says, and he takes out my necklace with the dice charm Han gave me on a birthday.

"I'm not in the mood to play, give it to me.” I stretch my arm, but he backs up. I knew it wouldn't be that simple.

“Take it as the first lesson of your training. This-“ He shakes the necklace, "It shows part of your past, emotions like these must be repressed if you want to achieve your goal.”

"The only thing I can understand is that you won't give me my necklace for one of the most idiotic excuses I’ve ever heard." He puts the necklace back in his pocket. "Don't make me go look for him Ben. You know I'm not shy,” I smile when I see her cheeks blush a little.

"Those kinds of games will be your downfall.” I roll my eyes and get out of bed. Once I have control of my body, I walk to the bathroom door, but something stops me. Suddenly dizziness comes and I lean against a wall.

_"Ben!" I scream outside his cabin. "Come on, Luke is waiting for us, we_ _’_ _ll be the last_ _!_ _"_

_A_ _few minutes later, the boy comes out carving his eyes, his face looks tired._

_"You're good?"_

_"I had a nightmare, I couldn't sleep well,"_ _He_ _complains,_ _I_ _frown and touch_ _his_ _cheek_ _,_ _looking at_ _his_ _dark circles._

_"You should tell your uncle_ _…”_

_"No, he doesn't have time for these things_ _,” He_ _remove_ _s_ _my hand. "I'll be fine_ _.”_

_“You’re sure_ _?" He nods._

_We both followed the path and met the other students_ _that are with_ _Luke._

_The class continue_ _s_ _without interruptions, between exercises simulating lightsabers, meditation, defense_ _…_ _everything is calm._

_"You can rest, we'll see you for dinner," Luke says._

_I return with Ben by my side, the two in silence until_ _He_ _decide_ _s_ _to break it_ _._

_"I have an idea_ _.”_

_"Oh no_ _,”_ _H_ _e_ _frowns_ _and gives me a push making me laugh._

_"We should go to the forest" he_ _adds_ _and we stop._

_"Are you talking about skipping dinner?" I pout and he laughs._

_"We'll be back sooner" I turn to my right to observe the deep forest._

_"Luke says we shouldn't go into the woods alone," I say nervously._

_"Come on, we_ _’ll be_ _care_ _ful_ _. Nothing will happen”_ _I sigh_ _._

_"_ _Alright_ _. But if he gets angry I_ _’_ _ll blame you for everything_ _…_ _”_

"Enough!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Enough!"

I breathe hard and open my eyes. I'm back in the black room, on my knees near the bathroom door. I turn back and Kylo is also on the ground. His face is covered in sweat

"What was that?" I say in a whisper. "Did you see it too?”

Kylo doesn't take his eyes off me and nods slowly. Then he shakes his head, stands up, and leaves the room without saying anything.

I stay on the floor for a moment, but my leg starts to hurt, so I get up and go to the bathroom. I don't understand what just happened and it's even more confusing that it connected with Kylo. I shake my head and bring my hands to my hair pushing it away from my face, I look around.

"Is everything black?" I whisper when I see the shower, I snort at the color selection.

On the far wall is the sink and above it is a mirror, I bite my lip. I dare not go closer and see my reflection, I know that my face is disgusting. I go to the shower and press a button so that the water begins to come out, I wait for the temperature to regulate while I take off my clothes very carefully and enter the jet of water, luckily the patches that cover my wounds are waterproof, or I hope so, because I didn't think about it before.

After a few minutes, I leave the bathroom wrapped in a towel and walk to the closet, from which I take some light pants, a simple blouse and some shoes... all black. I look at some drawers and grab underwear, ignoring the thought that want to enter my brain about Kylo choosing those clothes.

After getting dressed, I sit in the middle of the bed, my eyes fixed on the door.

That memory, back at the temple… I was 8 years old, I had only been training for a couple of months. The only other person besides Luke I was talking to was Ben, even though we weren't close friends yet, we actually got together to avoid the other students.

A lot of time has passed. We are not the same people. Is he also thinking the same? It was strange…

I haven't been in connection with the force in a while, maybe the return to the forest caused this, maybe everything is out of control inside me and Kylo was close, so he could see the same as me. An accidental connection.

I growl, I don't like being lost in all this Jedi and Sith stuff, strength, balance, I feel like the first days of training.

The hours pass and without realizing it, my body falls into the comfort of the bed and I fall asleep. All the weight of the days of torture, the "chat" with Snoke, the connection disappears for a few hours.

What wakes me up is the door being opened by a little droid. I sit down and rub my eyes as I yawn. The droid checks my wounds and leaves a tray of food and water. I watch all its movements in silence until it finishes and it approaches the door, but before leaving, it raises a robotic arm towards a box and it lights up.

I frown, hadn't noticed there was a datapad. The machine presses buttons and the door opens and closes when you are outside. An idea crosses my head.

But before I can do something, I eat what it has brought me, I can’t waste any food. I put everything in its place and walk slowly towards the datapad, I slide my finger on the screen from one side to the other, but it only allows me to enter the options to ask for food, clothes or help the droids. I groan. Sure, it shouldn't be easy to get out of this stupid and boring room, but there must be some way.

I look down and see some hope, I sit on the floor, stretching my injured leg. On the wall, there is a protruding box, most likely behind it are the operating connections for the entire room. I touch the edges and apply pressure, but it’s sealed.

For the next hour I try to open the box with everything in my power: I started with a hook, then I broke a hose that was in the shower (the bathroom is a mess), then I took one of the drawers out of a nightstand and threw it against the wall, but nothing worked.

I sigh in frustration, sitting down again against the wall.

"Damn it," I growl and punch the center of the box, causing the panel to open. I look at the small door in surprise and smile.

But my celebration doesn't last long as I see so many different colored cables intertwined, I sigh and move closer. I pull one to the other, I press buttons, causing the room to go crazy, suddenly the lights turn on and off like the air conditioning, but my biggest surprise is to see that the image of the window changes to different landscapes.

“Brilliant…" I keep trying until the door opens.

"Yes!" I shout in victory raising my arms and standing as fast as my leg allows, but my emotion is interrupted by another presence. I look up and Kylo looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you supposed to be doing?” He frowns and checks the room "What the fuck?" he mutters, walks through the bathroom and realizes the mess, then turns around ready to scold me, but his attention drifts to the wall panel and he gets it.

His sight now focuses on me, I smile innocently and he touches the bridge of his nose closing his eyes for a few seconds, when he opens them, I put my arms behind my back.

"Someone came and destroyed everything,” He shakes his head and I'm sure he struggles not to laugh, he moves his mouth and clears his throat.

"Come with me, I’ll show you the training room," He turns his back to me and leaves the room.

I walk slowly and find two stormtroopers on either side of the door, I wince. Even if I could have opened the door, the watchdogs wouldn't let me go that easy.

"Did you think it would be that simple?" Kylo says looking sideways at me.

"Of course not," I sigh.

It was stupid, but I had nothing else to do anyway.

We continue down the corridors, I stay behind him without paying attention, some soldiers salute at Kylo with fear and politeness. Being distracted I don’t realize the moment we arrived, so I collide with his body, he stops in front of a door.

"Sorry," I whisper.

He touches a screen and the door opens and we both enter.

The area is huge and has several sections for training, like in the Jedi temple. I shiver at the memory.

"You know, I can't move that much," Kylo walks away and takes off the huge black cape.

"We'll start with meditation," He reaches a corner where there’s a mat and sits down crossing his long legs. I imitate him and sit in front of him, stretching my injured leg. We’re watching each other for a few minutes.

"It hurts?" I say pointing to the wound on his face.

"You must remember how to connect with the force,” He ignores me, I roll my eyes.

"Rey has a good arm, I'm surprised you still have a nose," He inhales and exhales calmly, containing his anger. "And she doesn't even workout. That must bother you,” I continue smiling.

"You must feel around you-"

"You know this is useless, I won’t go to the dark side.” His features harden.

"Do you think you have any other choice? You can’t escape, you’re hurt and if you can get out of here, you have nowhere to go. You’ll die in less than a week.” I raise an eyebrow.

"I can take care of myself, I did it for a long time…” I mutter and he smiles.

His eyes analyze me carefully.

"You weren't completely alone," He approaches my body. "Your weakness… Han Solo” I frown.

"How dare you?" His legs manage to touch mine.

"I can see your memories, you let your guard down when I said his name,” Shit. I close my mind again to any intruder and he laughs.

I bite the inside of my cheek when I listen to his laugh I can notice that now's more serious, although it sounds different, what it causes in me has not changed and that bothers me.

"What will happen if you fail?" His wolfish smile disappears.

"Failures must be punished,” He raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, if I don't finish the super effective Sith training,” I say rolling my eyes. "Why am I so important? Why does Snoke need me to be on his side? If you fail, he’ll hurt you or may even kill you. Don't you worry?”

He thinks his answer carefully.

"You must not question your supreme leader" I roll my eyes. Now I get closer.

"I know you well,” My face reaches his chin. "You want to know, but you are afraid.” His body tenses.

"Don't continue something that you know will end badly," I shake my head.

“You’re just a lost boy. A stupid one,”It seems that he wants to say something, but he stops and closes his eyes, I look at him confused.

When he opens them again, he forces himself to relax.

“You must avoid these emotions. Han Solo's death, the abandonment of your family, the temple incident–”

“Temple's _attack,_ " I correct.

“If you want to finish the training, you must suppress them or put them in your favor. All that anger and helplessness can serve you–“

“You're impossible!" I cover my face with both hands.

The pain in my temple returns and everything around me disappears.

_"Come on, Ben, at this point we can see the whole island" I say walking._

_“We have been here a long time. We must go back_ _!_ _”_ _H_ _e answers behind me._

_"You were the one with the idea, genius" I hear his growl_ _._

_"I thought you didn't want to miss dinner"_

_"Just a little more_ _…“_

_We walk among the trees and_ _find a_ _hill. We_ _go_ _to a part where the trees end and the sunlight is bright. We share an excited look and rush to where the terrain ends, a flat space and then a cliff. Very carefully, we approach the shore._

_I_ _’_ _m surprised to see the beautiful landscape before my eyes._

_“_ _Great_ _…”_ _the wind and the breeze crash against my body._

_"It was worth skipping dinner_ _,_ _" Ben whispers next to me and I laugh._

_The sun is slowly setting. We were silent for a long time._ _“_

_I think we should go back now_ _,”_ _his voice interrupts the moment, I understand his concern, there are only a few minutes left so that everything is in complete darkness, but I just don't want to leave._

_"Just a few more minutes_ _…”_

_“_ _Kiara_ _,_ _"_ _I_ _roll my eyes and watch_ _him._

_“_ _Come on, Ben. Just a little more_ _!” H_ _e looks around indecisively_ _._ _"Don't be boring_ _.” H_ _e frowns._

_"I'm not boring_ _.”_

_"Then stop complaining."_

_"You should stop throwing a tantrum, we can come back tomorrow_ _.”_

_"Ben, this is beautiful. How do you not want to_ _stay_ _here?"_

_"Sure, I forgot that your home is a garbage can, you have never seen anything like thi_ _s_ _"_ _N_ _ow I look at him annoyed._

_"Hey,_ _quit_ _that tone, I just want to see-"_

_"Yes yes, whatever…”_

_"Stop acting like this_ _!”_ _H_ _e raises his eyebrows and his annoyance is replaced by a mocking smile._

_"Act as_ _.._ _?_ _”_

_"Like a fool_ _.”_ _H_ _e laughs._

_"Good insul_ _t._ _N_ _ow let's go back_ _._ _"_

_"I see why the other children can't stand you_ _.”_

_"They can't stand that I'm better_ _,_ _they_ _’_ _re jealous"_

_"And what do you do about it? Instead of helping them, you just humiliate them”_

_"They don't matter to me_ _.”_

_“_ _Obviously_ _…”_

_"Wait_ _,_ _"_ _He_ _shakes his head, these changes are very fast. "I don't have to discuss this with a girl like you_ _.”_

_H_ _e turns his back on me and I look down and pick up a small rock from the floor and throw it right_ _at_ _his head. He stops at the blow and turns to face me._

_“_ _What_ _–_ _Y_ _ou want to play with this way?"_

_It happens too fast:_ _our bodies collide and the fight begins; I pull his hair and he_ _pulls_ _mine_ _._ _I hit his stomach, he twists my arm,_ _we_ _scream_ _in pain_ _. At one point we_ _’_ _re both on the ground_ _,_ _very close to shore and before anyone can do anything, part of the ground_ _falls_ _under our weight._

_I feel the lack of floor in my legs and my body falls, but Ben's arms manage to pull me back_ _up_ _. I fall onto my shoulder and the last thing I see is how my friend's body falls off the cliff._

_“Ben!”_

_I crawl to avoid falling and look down. I let out a sigh of relief, which doesn't last long._

_A part of the cliff protrudes a few meters from where I am, this prevented Ben from falling into the sea. My breathing is very fast and my heart is going a thousand per hour. I walk away again and look around, the darkness now reigns throughout the place, making the forest darker._

_“_ _O_ _k._ _.. ok..." I try to focus. "Be_ _n_ _fell... he's unconscious_ _,_ _I mus_ _t–_ _I must ask for help_ _!”_ _I get up and turn to the forest._

_I can't do it, I_ _can’t_ _see anything_ _and it_ _will take too long._

_"Oh no, no, no" I walk back and forth in despair._

_Maybe if I scream too lou_ _d–_ _no, that won't work. I can't waste time. I have no ropes to pull it_ _with_ _, if I also fall, it_ _’_ _ll be our downfall, no one can find us and we_ _’_ _ll die._

_"Agh!" Finally, an idea arrives. I hope it works. I bite my lower lip._

_I walk over to the shore again and cross my legs, control my breathing and close my eyes._

_I feel the earth below me, I hear the birds singing, nocturnal animals, trees, the water hitting the rocks_ _…_ _With each breath it_ _’_ _s an effort, until I slowly open my eyes._

_Ben's body levitates a short distance from me. The force breaks and before his body falls again, I take his arm and with all my effort I pull him as far as I can from the cliff._

_“_ _Ben_ _…”_ _a line of blood runs down his forehead to his cheek._

_"_ _We_ _must take him to a healer_ _.”_ _T_ _he voice startles me and I turn to meet Luke._

_“_ _Wh_ _–_ _Were you here the whole time?”_

_“_ _There_ _'_ _s no time, his body_ _’_ _s weak_ _._ _"_ _H_ _e approaches and takes Ben in his arms._


	8. Chapter 8

_I hug my legs as I lean against the wall, my hands tremble and I can hear the erratic palpitations of my heart._

_The door to one side of me opens and I get up like a spring, Luke leaves the room and watches me._

_"You must go back to your cabin, Kiara" scolds me._

_"I can't, I... this is my fault, he's hurt because of me, I can't just leave_ _,”_ _H_ _e puts his hand on my shoulder._

_“_ _It_ _’_ _s not your fault, is very noble that you want to be close, I am sure that Ben will be fine, but now you must return_ _,”_ _I sigh and_ _nod_ _. We both left the infirmary. In that a ship lands not far from us. Luke growls. "You better hurry up_ _…”_

_I follow the path to the cabins, turning from time to time to see who had arrived, until I decide to stop. My view goes from the rocky path to the nursing cabin. I shake my head._

_“_ _I won't be able to slee_ _p anyway…”_ _I return_ _to_ _look out of all the windows, until I reach Ben's room. Carefully, I enter without making any noise. Ben is still asleep, his wounds are covered by bandages, tubes connect him to some machines._

_My chest feels_ _heavy_ _to see_ _him_ _like this. I approach, but voices interrupt me, footsteps are heard, I run to a cabinet where they put some medicines and I hide behind_ _it_ _._

_"Leia, I already told you it's okay, you didn't have to come_ _,”_ _that's Luke's voice._

_“W_ _hen someone who is caring for your son says he had an accident,_ _you_ _should see him as soon as possible,"_ _S_ _ays_ _a_ _woman. The door opens._

_"It's not nice to see her in this state," says another thicker voice._

_“_ _Oh_ _,_ _my baby_ _…”_ _F_ _rom where I am I can see only the woman's feet and the fabric of her purple dress skimming the floor. "What happened, Luke?"_

_H_ _e clears his throat. I bite my lip, feeling a lump in my throat._

_"It was an accident,_ _he_ _was playing with the other students and something went wrong"_

_"You know how children are, Leia. Ben is fine_ _…_ _”_

_"I'd better guide_ _you_ _to_ _your_ _rooms, tomorrow_ _you_ _can talk to him," Luke continues. Leia moves._

_"If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to your students about this."_

_Oh, no. A part of me wants to go out and explain everything, but my body stays still._ _The voices are now far away and the door closes again. I leave my hiding place, I see the stretcher and I approach. I touch Ben's hand and tears fall down my cheeks._

_“_ _Forgive me, Ben. I didn't want this to happen, it's my fault_ _,_ _”_ _A_ _sob comes out of my mouth_ _before I can stop it_ _._ _“_ _Sorry_ _…”_

_I touch h_ _is_ _cheek. Suddenly all the fatigue covers my body, I sigh and drag a chair to be near the stretcher. I settle down and without releasing Ben's hand, I fall completely asleep._

_I open my eyes slowly, the light bothers me until my body wakes up completely. I hear the beeps of some machines, I stir in my place and feel everything. A tube connects to my nose and surrounds my cheeks. I see around me. What happened? Why am I in the infirmary?_

_I turn my head to my left and am surprised to see Kiara, asleep uncomfortably on a chair and suddenly, the memories come back. The fight, the fall. I sigh._

_Her head is leaning against one of the arms of the chair, for a moment I can hear her snoring. I smile, I'm about to wake her up until I realize her hand is clinging to mine. My heart flutters and the beeps of the machines give me away._

_At that the door of the infirmary opens._

_“_ _Oh_ _,_ _y_ _ou_ _’re_ _awake_ _!”_

_"Mo_ _m_ _?"_ _S_ _he approaches the stretcher, but stops._

_"Who are you?"_ _S_ _he asks and I turn to my left and Kiara is awake, looking confused at my mother._

_"Ahm... I"_ _She_ _stutters._

_“_ _Mom_ _,_ _" I turn to her_ _._ _"Her name is Kiara, she is..." I stop for a few seconds, I hope not to ruin everything_ _._ _"She is my friend_ _.”_

_M_ _y mom raises her eyebrows and smiles kindly. The door opens again and my father enters with Luke, my mom sits on the edge of the stretcher._

_"Hey kid, how_ _’_ _re you feeling?" Dad says and repeats his wife's actions when she sees Kiara. He points at her confused._

_"She's a friend of Ben, Han." At this point I know Kiara is nervous._

_"Friend?" he asks mockingly and I roll my eyes._

_"Hello," she replies in a weak voice._

_"Oh honey, so you must know what happened last night" We both shared a look._

_"Mother-_ _“_

_"It was my fault, M_ _r_ _s. Solo"_ _S_ _he interrupts me, looking at_ _my mother._ _"We started arguing about something silly, actually I was going to fall, but Ben helped me_ _…”_

_"No, that's not true, well, maybe half, but_ _–“_ _W_ _e both spoke our versions at the same time, I wasn't going to let her take all the blame._

_"Wait," Luke interrupts, approaching._

_"Fall out?"_ _M_ _y father asks._

_"Guys, they don't know anything about what happened,_ _you_ _must explain it to them," adds Luke._

_“It was my idea, I convinced Kiara to go to the forest, I just wanted to know what Luke would do if he found out. We were there for a long time”_

_“Ben told me to come back early, but I didn't want to, I should_ _’_ _ve listened to him. Then we argued, he wanted to come back, but I provoked him and we started to fight”_

_“I shouldn't have followed_ _her_ _, it's also my fault. The ground couldn_ _’_ _t_ _hold_ _our weight, she was going to fall, so I pushed her_ _–_ _I... I don't remember the rest_ _,” N_ _ow we all look towards Kiara._

_"Tell them how you managed to help Ben_ _,”_ _adds Luke_ _._

_“_ _I_ _…”_ _H_ _er cheeks flush slightly. "Use_ _d_ _the force?"_

_I look at her surprised. How is it that someone who has spent so little time training could do it?_

_"She levitated your body, couldn't hold it for long, but long enough to put you in a safe place,"_ _H_ _e explains._

_"How did you do it?" I ask_ _her_ _. She shrugs._

_"I really don't know, I just did it."_

_"You were there?" Dad asked Luke._

_"In a way_ _…”_

_"And you did nothing to help?"_

_"It's complicated, Han. What matters here is that Ben is fine."_

_My father huffs and then shakes his head._ _He w_ _alk_ _s_ _until_ _he is_ _in front of the stretcher._

_"Thanks for helping my son,"_ _H_ _e says to Kiara, then_ _he_ _looks down and smiles. "I see that both can take care of each other_ _…”_

_I follow his eyes and see how our hands are still together, our fingers intertwined. She also realizes. I feel my cheeks burn and theirs are also on fire. We let go quickly causing the adults to laugh._

_"I'm Han Solo_ _,”_ _Dad introduces himself,_ _offering_ _his_ _hand and Kiara shakes it._

_"I am Le_ _i_ _a, I must also thank you, without you, my son wouldn_ _’_ _t be here_ _,_ _"_ _M_ _y mother gets up and hugs the girl._

_"No- it's nothing,"_ _S_ _he says when they part._

_"I guess you didn't listen to me last night and fell asleep here," adds Luke, looking at Kiara with amusement. Her cheeks turn red and I look at her amused._

_"_ _I_ _better go_ _,”_ _Sh_ _e gets up and practically runs out of the infirmary and now I join_ _in_ _the laughter of the adults, I_ _stare at the doorframe_ _._

_It had never happened to me, nobody, apart from my parents, had worried about me, she was willing to take the blame and stayed to take care of me._

_"Why didn't you tell us you already had friends, Ben?" I return to my mother. I shrug._

_"It's just her." She sits next to me and kisses my forehead._

_"You should have seen your mother, she was hysterical_ _!”_ _A_ _dds my father, laughing._

_"Visits are until the following week_ _,” I mention._

_"We wanted to see you sooner_ _,_ _"_ _Mom hugs_ _me._

_"Everyone is fine," adds Dad, sitting down on the stretcher. "But now we have a pending issue, young man_ _,”_ _H_ _e points out to me and I frown_ _._ _"I think it's time to give you the talk about the girls_ _…”_

_"Oh no. You shouldn't, dad_ _,_ _”_ _I say nervous and he laughs._

_"I know you're still very young, but it's never too lat_ _e or too early.”_

_"Leave him alone, Han. They're just friends,"_ _S_ _ays my mom stroking my hair. "I like her." She looks at Luke._

_"She's a good girl,"_ _H_ _e replies._

_During all this time, I had never had friends, nobody could see me as one, why is it different with her? Why would someone want to be my friend? It must be some trick, but what does she want from me?_

"Was that what you thought that day?" We both connect our gazes, my breathing is shaky, and my body is covered in sweat, as if I had actually exercised a lot.

I don't understand this connection I have with him. In addition to being just memories, now they were his, they were combined.

"The training is over,” he says getting up, I with difficulty, follow him.

"Wait, you can't do that!” He ignores me. “Ben," Now he stops, but doesn't look at me.

"Why is this happening? You can't ignore what just happened–”

“Watch me.”

It's been a week since that "training" and I haven't seen Kylo since. Everything has become routine and the only communication I’ve had is with the droids and the times I have tried to distract the stormtroopers that are on duty outside my room.

That's fun, they even have real names already and not RY-259 and TY-896. Both seem satisfied with being Raymond/Ray and Tyler. At first they just ignored me, but it only took a good time for my charm to relax them.

The downside is that their help in escaping will not do. Their only job is to make sure that I don’t come out, they don’t know what the others will do with me, where I can go, nothing.

The good thing is that my leg is better than before and I can walk normally, although I must be careful.

The door opens and the devil himself enters the room, I roll my eyes. But my annoyance is soon replaced with confusion. Kylo is agitated and paces back and forth like a caged animal.

"What?" I ask when I hear the slight whispers. He looks up and comes closer.

"How is it possible that I have a connection of memories with you and with her is different?" He says quickly. _Her?_

"I have no idea what you're talking about." His arms tighten and he suddenly pulls back towards a wall and hits it hard.

"Hey! Stop hitting walls, it's not fair to them,” He looks at me furiously. “Listen, your tantrum is blinding you, stop being a child and better investigate what’s happening–“

"You know nothing!" He comes back and his face is inches from mine.

"Of course I don't know anything, a few weeks ago I was with Han, not caring about anything and now I'm in front of a sweaty man who when he doesn't know something, hits a poor wall!” He frowns. "I had no connection with the force for years and now it turns out that we are connected by our memories and… wait, _her._ You mean Rey? Do you also have a connection with her?”

“…I only see her. I don't know where she is or anything…”

"As if that wasn't enough... I never liked these Jedi tricks,” I complain and to my surprise I hear his soft laugh. This time it was different from the one he released when we were in meditation.

"You always said so,” I bite my lower lip. _You will hand me over to Skywalker._

"Luke," I whisper. That voice in my head, was the voice of Kylo. Did I just enter his mind? He looks at me confused, but he notices something and walks away. "You also have a weakness.”

He says nothing, just turns around and leaves the room.

I close my eyes and sigh.

I can't do it, he tried to kill me, attacked Leia and killed Han. His actions or words will no longer work. He is no longer the same boy I fell in love with.

He doesn’t love me.


	9. Chapter 9

_Then_ _._

“You did well, Kiara. I have to say that you had an excellent performance,” I observe Luke with a smile. "Is there a reason?” I shrug.

“You just have to accept it, Luke,” He laughs.

We walked through the temple until we reached the cabins. Luke raises his arm and a new student goes with him for private training. I continue to go to my cabin, but a body prevents me, I smile raising my head.

“I won’t even ask how it went,” I roll my eyes.

“Surely you saw the training, cheat,” I walk away. He follows me.

"You’ve improved in saber combat”

“Do you think it has to do with my new teacher?” I raise an eyebrow and he gives me a sideways smile.

“Maybe…” He grabs my wrist, making us stop. “Kiara,“ He says, suddenly serious.

"What happened?”

"We have to talk, but not here…” He takes my hand intertwining our fingers and guides me to the forest. We don’t go too far, as soon as he sees a safe place, he stops. "I- I spoke to Luke and I’ve done research.”

“What are you talking about?” He seems nervous. His cheeks flush a little.

“Of us. Jedi are prohibited from having these kinds of… relationships. Luke told me that all of this leads to destruction, I don’t…” He stirs in place. "I don’t know what we can do to– Why are you smiling like that?” I laugh a little. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Never,“ I bite my lower lip. "What are we supposed to be Ben? What is our relationship?” He didn’t seem to be expecting my questions and his cheeks flush redder, but he frowns looking away. I touch his cheek to return his gaze.

"How is it possible that as soon as there is someone else you’re a polite and serious boy, but with me you blush and act shy?” His features relax at my touch.

“It’s your fault,” I laugh again. I kiss his cheek and he puts his hands around my waist bringing me closer to his body. "You can’t deny that we’re no longer just friends.” I brush a lock of his black hair from his face.

“I could deny it, but that would hurt you and it’s not what I want.”

“The Jedi forbid this, Kiara,” He sighs.

“They don’t have to know, Ben. We’ve done very well so far…”

"But what will happen when we finish training?” I’m surprised at his words.

"Have you thought about our future?” His lips sweetly collide with mine. He kisses me slowly. When it ends, he leans his forehead on mine.

“I want you to be my future, my _star_ ,” He’s not lying or joking. I believe what he says.

"I also want you to be part of my future…”

————————————————————————

_Now_

I groan as my body hits the ground.

"Again,” Kylo groans.

“I think I’m better on the ground, I always end up here anyway…”

"Get up,” I growl and obey. Sweat runs all over my body, my muscles demand rest but the Sith master has other plans. “Your body’s small and agile, use your speed.”

“We’ve already been here for 5 hours, my body doesn’t react!”

“Before you could endure more, even in the sun!”

“I was 16 years old, with one chocolate bar I could travel the entire island without problems. People change–” I stretch my back, “And get old.”

"That won’t matter to your enemies.”

"I notice.”

"You have to be ready,” I’m about to make another brilliant comment, but Kylo runs towards me and with all his weight tackles me, we both fall.

”Damn Mudhorn!” The air leaves my lungs, feeling the weight of Kylo exasperates me. Then he puts his arm around my neck.

"What will you do now? Defend yourself!” My only salvation was to think fast. I make a movement with my free arm, he expects an attack, so he takes my wrist. I use that distraction to lift my knee and hit right into his crotch. He pulls his arm away and I inhale desperately. He complains and growls in pain, falls sideways covering his crotch, his face is red.

“Training is over,” I sit up.

"That’s cheating,” He mutters, making me laugh.

“Now who can’t keep going? Come on, little Ben. You know that was always my way out when you beat me in fights.”

“It’s still cheating,” He says more calmly, slowly sitting down.

“You said I must be ready at any moment, I would gladly kick my enemy’s balls,” He looks at me furious and I laugh again. After a few minutes he gets up and goes to the door.

“Training is over for today,” He says before leaving. Before he used to yell at me and I would laugh until he laughed and forgave me.

That was… before.

I leave the room, a Stormtrooper is waiting and as soon as he sees me he guides me to my room without saying anything.

What else could be done in a place like this? How come nobody gets bored? I’m tired of doing the same routine as always. I remember how a grumpy soldier told me that I was very lucky not to end up like the other prisoners and that I had to thank each training with the great Kylo Ren.

Being forced into training, not being able to leave the room alone, not being able to go explore anything, forbidding me to know anything about Leia, Poe, Rey and Finn, not knowing anything about my family… Should I be grateful? What Kylo and Snoke want is for him to be a simple puppet for their grand plan to conquer the galaxy.

I feel a lot of fatigue, I sit on the ground and look at the window, which gives me the vision of a lush forest. After my cable mess, I figured out how to change it. I rest my head on the glass.

I wish I could escape, run away from all this circus, no more Jedi, no Sith. To be free, nobody wanting to kill me. Alone in the woods in some cabin, being independent, getting my own food, seeing the stars, running through the trees, swimming in a lake. Tears wet my cheeks. The longing is too strong, I just want to be at ease.

But no, I’m still on a stupid enemy base, with the person who wants to get rid of me as soon as he has a chance. That person who wouldn’t hesitate is obeying the orders of an elderly creature. The man I once loved, my best friend. My sobs grow louder.

I’m trapped, without Han, Leia, Rey…

A noise makes me start and I quickly stand up. An alarm goes off in the base, the noise is thunderous, and the lights turn red.

Suddenly a red-haired man enters my room, Armitage Hux. Another faithful dog from Snoke who does not miss the opportunity to complain about Kylo’s orders, after so long, I think Kylo and I agree with something: We can’t stand the redhead.

“I must take you to the containment room,” He says without emotion.

“What’s happening?“ He walks over to me and takes my arm roughly.

"Hurry up, I’m not going to pick up the corpse of a traitor,” I almost want to laugh. Almost. I get rid of his grip and he looks at me annoyed.

“Just tell me what’s going on and I’ll follow you,” I say.

“We’re being attacked, now move!” He takes my arm again and we both go out into the hallways. Soldiers run past us. A roar makes us fall, the lights blink. Some fragments of the ceiling fall. Shouts are heard in the distance, orders are being shouted all around.

I growl and get up slowly. “Of all the people on this base, why did you come for me?” I say breathless.

“Ren asked for it.”

“Yeah, right”

A new roar shakes the room, this time with more force. It seems that is very close to us. I turn to my right and the fire expands into a few hallways.

“Move!” Hux yells in my ear. He begins to run and I follow him, leaving behind the destruction and several wounded soldiers. “You must go and look for the nurses, they’ll tell you what to do,” He says. “I already did too much for you,” He finally says and then runs down the hallway to the right, leaving me alone.

“Employee of the month!” I say sarcastically. I’m about to walk where he told me, but an exhibition makes me stop. The ceiling falls blocking my passage, the cables hang. “Okay, don’t panic.” I turn right and run in the same direction as Hux.

“Please help!” I stop when I hear the screams. Three soldiers are gathered in front of another group, I approach. A stormtrooper is caught between cables and metals. “Don’t go, please!” He cries, but his companions run away. I crouch down to him.

"Easy, I’ll help you…” I do everything I can to make a lever, I use all the materials there and I jam it in the perfect place, with great force I push it down. The soldier complains. "You must help me, push!” He nods. "One… Two… Three!” In the second that the rubble is lifted, the soldier comes out and I let everything go as soon as I set him free. "You’re good?” He nods.

“You must– you must go to the emergency ships,” He says, getting up slowly without supporting the damaged leg.

“That’s what I was thinking, but–” Suddenly shots are heard. We both see how a group of creatures run towards us starting to shoot.

“Come on!” It seems like the only thing I can do now.

At some point I lose sight of the stormtrooper and again I’m alone running without knowing where to go. Someone pushes me against a wall, before I could defend myself I feel a grip on my arm too strong.

When I look up, I’m surprised to see a horrible creature, black eyes, body covered in scales that is huge and strong, I can’t identify its race, but that’s not what worries me, but the sharp knife against my neck.

"Oh come on, I’m not part of the first order, you can go your way!” I say, trying to move my neck away. The creature answers me in another language. "I didn’t understand, but I’ll take it as a sorry–“ His grip tightens making me squeal. I’m sure the knife is already making a cut.

"Okay, big guy.” I use force and manage to bend his wrist. I force him to drop the knife and hit his knee. He recoils, but doesn’t wait long to attack again. I see his intentions and run away from there as soon as possible.

Where does this base end? It seems like I’m just running in circles. The screams grow louder and I pass through a huge window, I look out and on the other side, many soldiers are preparing the ships for attack or escape. My heart speeds up when I see a small ship alone, undamaged.

I could run away. Everyone is busy with all the chaos, nobody could stop me, if only…

I walk to a door and exit to the ship, still cautious so that no one sees me. I go through boxes and machines. I reach the ladder of the ship.

“The west side, I want everyone on the move!” I recognize Kylo’s voice reaching the section where I am, so I hide behind some boxes. I know he’s _very_ close. “I want damage reports,” he talks to Hux.

“The fuel is running out. I don’t think the damage can be repaired very soon. Those monsters keep coming, we must evacuate immediately–” Kylo stops him.

"I know what I’m doing… The prisoner, is she in the escape ships?” I stir in my hiding place.

“I took her myself, she must be.”

"Have you talked to the doctors yet? She’s there?”

“Why do you care so much about that traitor?”

“Snoke needs her alive.”

“I think someone else needs it…”

"Be careful what you say, Hux,” The noise of an intercom interrupts them, Kylo gives coordinates and other things that I cannot hear because more soldiers pass near there.

“WHERE’S SHE’S AT!?” He roars and argues with Hux, I know he’s hurting him. “She’s under my protection, I can’t lose her again!“ I cover my mouth to make no noise.

His words surprise me and I try not to find another meaning for them. He just wants to find me for Snoke, he just wants…

Kylo and Hux continue arguing and walk towards the bottom of the air base. When I see an opportunity, I leave my hiding place a little stunned and return to the ship’s staircase.

I have to run away from here, I just… I have to go, I’ll find Leia and–

Another explosion causes me to fall from the stairs. The soldiers flee and, in the distance, I see Kylo fight with another creature. Both fight, but it seems that everything is in slow motion. The creature hits Kylo and he falls, a part of the ground is destroyed, a little more and Kylo can fall through to a place I’m sure doesn’t lead to a nice place.

The creature prepares to attack again, but I use the Force and stop it. I run to get closer. I push him against another damaged ship but the monster manages to hit Kylo once more, causing his body to fall.

Not again.

"Ben!” I run and held his hand at the edge of the hole. I look out and see him directly into his eyes.

My breath hitches at the dark thoughts that come.

_Finish it, you have the opportunity in front of you. Do it. Kill him._

_End the war. If Kylo dies, everything is over, you can go to the forest._

“Do it,” He says with difficulty. I shake my head and I stretch my arm.

“I’m not like you!” He looks at me and my arm. It doesn’t take long for me to pulled him back and with great difficulty we manage to get him out of there. His body falls close to me, he’s on his knees.

"I don’t understand…” He says lowly.

My eyes water and I turn to see him.

"I would never try to kill the person I love.”


	10. Chapter 10

At a new first-order base, some soldiers are on alert for a new attack, others are roaming around ordering supplies and weapons. Everything under the cautious gaze of Kylo Ren through a huge window that separates him from the others.

His eyes analyze each person that passes in his field of vision, men and women shout orders, fix ships, nobody wants to disobey the leader. But Kylo’s mind is too far away to pay attention to detail.

The last words his prisoner said before they boarded an escape ship haunts him.

The person I love– _Her?_ He can’t believe it, not after everything that happened, it’s impossible.

Kylo turns, but before continuing on his way, the image of Rey confronts him.

_“_ _Why is the Force connecting us? You an I.“_

From the first interaction he had with both girls, his thoughts kept throwing up questions. He can understand the connection to Kiara, after all, many years ago they had a strong bond, oddly though it’s only through memories. But with Rey… he kept asking.

"Killer Snake!” Rey answers angrily. “You’re too late. You lost, I found Skywalker.”

"Did he tell you what happened?” He takes a few steps forward. “The night I destroyed his temple, did he tell you why?”

“I know everything I need about you.”

"You know?” Kylo enters Rey’s mind. Sees her memories. “Oh, yes you know,” He says in a mocking tone. "You have that look in your eyes, from the forest,” He raises his head. “When you called me a monster.”

“You are a monster.”

“Yes, I am.” The connection ends and Kylo touches her cheek, watches the drops on her glove. Rey must be in a humid place, near sea.

How is it possible that he still has these situations? Why can’t he see past the scavenger?

His head is messed up, he must concentrate on his work, must be informed about the attack on the resistance fleet, he must be careful with the scavenger, the training with Kiara… her words.

“No…” He growls shaking his head.

Kylo Ren was not the only one with an internal debate. Kiara finds herself walking back and forth in her new room, her heart in her throat.

“ _The person I love_ , why did I tell him that? It was all a lie, I really don’t know why I saved him…” The girl scolds herself. "I’m an idiot, I don’t even feel anything for him… just disgust, yes, that’s it–” Kiara stops and growls as she hides her face with her hands. “I should’ve run away when I had the chance. Surely, he could easily be saved…”

That made her think.

Kylo is an advanced apprentice, in fact, he could have defeated any creature and avoided the fall, something must have happened.

"I shouldn’t have saved him!” She complains. “It was a trap, he knew I was there… he knows my weaknesses and he pretended,” Kiara can’t help but feel betrayed, every time she believed that everything could change, a blow stopped her to face reality.

Finally, she sits on the floor with her back resting on her new bed.

“I’ll never be able to have a quiet life…” Her breathing shakes, until a new memory invades her mind.

_Kiara has always been uncomfortable when visiting day comes. Although not all the parents of their peers come, the simple fact that they make an effort to communicate with their children by means of a call or hologram_ _,_ _causes_ _her_ _heart to shrink, but what hurts the most, is seeing_ _her_ _best friend Ben with his two parents. They never miss visiting day, and today was no exception._

_From one of the gardens_ _she_ _can see how Leia hugs and kisses her only son’s cheek while he complains and his father laughs. While she just_ _plays with_ _the grass, away from everyone._

_"I can’t believe my son_ _’_ _s already_ _sixteen…”_ _Leia squeezes the boy’s face._

_"Mom,”_ _He_ _says, pulling away._

_“Come on Leia,_ _you shouldn’t embarrass him, that’s my job_ _!_ _” Ben rolls his eyes._

_“Where’s Kiara at?” Leia asks._

_“I don’t know_ _,”_ _Ben replies uncomfortably "She usually leaves_ _during this day…”_

_B_ _oth adults_ _share a look, knowing_ _the situation of the girl._

_"Well, you must go get her, Ben. I_ _’_ _d like to invite her to the dance organized by the senators_ _,_ _”_ _Ben raises his eyebrows_ _in_ _surpris_ _e._

_"I don’t think she_ _’ll_ _want to go, mother_ _.”_

_"You don’t know that, I_ _’d_ _say yes, especially if you go_ _as his partner_ _,”_ _adds Han. Ben_ _’s_ _cheeks turn a little red._

_"No, definitel_ _y not–_ _I w_ _o_ _n_ _’_ _t be_ _her_ _partner, mom,”_ _H_ _e says, Leia laughs at the reaction._

_“_ _It_ _doesn’t have to mean anything_ _, Ben. Just invite her, please_ _,_ _”_ _Ben grimaces_ _but finally nods._

_——————————————————-_

_“I’ve never been to a dance before,” Kiara says, biting her lower lip while Leia brushes her hair. The girl is sitting on a bench in front of a dressing table._

_“It’s not a big deal, darling. Only adult_ _s_ _talking about things of no importance to a teenager. Although, if you want to know, you can ask me anything_ _,_ _”_ _Kiara nods_ _._

_Leia’s skillful hands gently place each lock of hair to create a high ponytail with several strands loose on the sides of Kiara’s face._

_"I’ll give you the dress and the jewelry you can choose_ _from,”_ _Leia disappear_ _s_ _for a few seconds and when she returns,_ _s_ _he has a beautiful slim navy blue dress_ _for her. Kiara can’_ _t believe how beautiful it is._ _She l_ _ightly touch_ _es_ _the fabric._

_"Are you sure I can use it?”_ _S_ _he_ _asks_ _._

_Leia knows that this is the right dress for her. Sleeveless neckline, the rest falls to almost touch the ground with just a slim belt to create shape_ _._

_“Of course, you_ _’l_ _l look beautiful.”_ _She_ _observes the girl’s reactions in detail, despite not knowing her completely, she can feel Kiara’s innocence. Maybe it’s the Force_ _,_ _or the maternal instinct, but she knew that this girl had the whole galaxy ahead of her._

_“Thank you.”_

_————————————————————_

_Han and Ben are a little apart from the great room, both uncomfortable_ _and_ _knowing almost no one. Han cordially greeted those who recognized him for being Leia’s husband with a fake smile, sometimes asking about Ben, who imitated his father’s actions. The two look forward to the only two people they could be comfortable with._

_When they enter the room, Ben can_ _’_ _t believe what he sees. It isn_ _’_ _t possible that the girl who approaches him with a smile is Kiara. Not in a million years._

_“It seems that we arrived at a good time,” says Leia, kissing her husband, knowing that her two men would be apart from everyone._

_“You’re good?” Kiara asks when seeing the strange reaction of her friend, who can_ _’_ _t stop seeing her._

_Ben can only think of how beautiful she looks in that blue dress, it_ _’_ _s very different from the beige, white and brown colors that she always uses on the island._

_Han notices_ _his_ _son’s_ _attitude_ _and gives him a little pus_ _h_ _to get him back to reality, which works. Ben glances at his father and nods at him_ _, turning_ _to Kiara._

_“_ _What_ _?”_ _S_ _he laughs._

_“You’re good? You look tense_ _._

_"Yes, it’s just that I don’t know anyone,”_ _H_ _e says nervous_ _ly_ _._

_Since when did he_ _act_ _like this? It’s still Kiara, the girl who always talks to him, the one who always has a comment for everything. That girl who manages to get the good side out of everything._

_“Don’t worry, little Ben. I_ _’_ _ve rescued you_ _,_ _”_ _S_ _he smile_ _s_ _._

_There_ _she_ _is. Ben laughs as the adults watch everything with a mocking smile._

_"Well, Han and I must do other things,_ _you’_ _re free to explore the palace and eat_ _all you_ _want. Be careful_ _,_ _”_ _Leia orders and both agree._

_When they are alone, Kiara takes a chance to look at Ben’s outfit, much like Han’s. A white shirt with a black vest and baggy black pants. Her hair is combed back._

_"You look very different,”_ _S_ _he says, drawing his attention._

_“You… you too, I’ve never seen you in a dress_ _,”_ _H_ _e says_ _rubbing_ _his neck._

_She looks down and moves a little to_ _show the dress_ _._

_“_ _It_ _’_ _s beautiful_ _…_ _you are_ _,_ _too_ _.”_

_S_ _he looks up and can feel her cheeks burn._

_"I mean, yeah, it’s not like you weren’t before, it’s not just because of the dress, it’s just that_ _–”_ _Ben_ _rambles_ _and she laughs._

_"You also look handsome, Ben_ _.”_

_T_ _hey both_ _at_ _look each other directly in the eye. Something they never thought could happen… none had thought before how fast their hearts could beat when seeing or thinking about the other._

_———————————————————_

_During_ _training_ _, some students practice meditation, but not all are focused_ _._

_"Stop_ _watching_ _him_ _, just stop, it’s not like_ _he’s got_ _something special_ _,_ _” Kiara thinks trying to close her eyes_ _._

_S_ _he can’t help but open one in the direction of her friend Ben._

_“It is true what the other girls say, he_ _’_ _s grown and now he looks stronger, and he_ _’_ _s very skilled and… his hair is longer, sometimes he_ _gets frustated_ _when he has it over his eyes… those brown eyes… No!”_ _Kiara_ _shakes h_ _er_ _head and closes_ _her_ _eyes again._

_“_ _Can you turn down the volume of your thoughts? I can’t focus_ _,_ _”_ _says a different voice._

_Kiara opens her eyes and looks back at Ben, who now has a sly smile. The girl blushes and returns to training listening to the male laugh in her mind._

_——————————————————————_

_“I don’t understand why you’re upset, I was just talking to Rid_ _!_ _”_

_“That’s what bothers me,” Ben answers through clenched teeth. “Why did_ _he_ _need you so badly?”_

_“_ _I_ _just wanted help with some combat moves_ _!_ _”_

_Ben raises his eyebrows._

_“Oh yeah? Hand-to-hand combat_ _–_ _to be close to you, of course_ _,_ _”_ _He_ _says sarcastic_ _ally._ _“_ _Why didn’t_ _he_ _ask me for help or Luke or anyone else?_ _”_

_"Are you kidding? Although you_ _’_ _re the best in the class, not_ _in_ _a million years_ _w_ _ould ask you for help, you_ _’_ _d only criticize him and in the end you would not_ _help at all_ _. The others aren_ _’_ _t that good, I was_ _his_ _only option_ _–_ _and Luke? The poor boy barely talks to his friends_ _!”_

_"Those are not good excuses, I know what he wants_ _!_ _”_

_“_ _Ben_ _,_ _“_ _S_ _he complains_ _._ _"Please stop acting like that, it wasn_ _’_ _t a bad thing_ _.”_

_"That is your problem,”_ _H_ _e says, approaching_ _._ _“_ _Y_ _ou don_ _’_ _t see evil in people, you think that everyone has good intentions, and that_ _’_ _s a serious problem that will bring you_ _more problems_ _.”_

_“_ _What the fuck are you talking about? You’re_ _so_ _drama_ _tic about_ _something_ _so_ _unimportant_ _…”_

_“_ _Un_ _importan_ _t_ _? So you didn’t mind that the idiot touched your waist_ _?_ _”_ _S_ _he rolls her eyes._

_"That’s not_ _–”_ _S_ _he stops mid-word realizing the situation. Frustration is replaced by a huge wolfish smile._

_"Now what?”_ _H_ _e asks._

_“_ _You_ _’_ _re jealous?“_ _S_ _he approaches and the boy takes a few steps back surprised by the change of subject._

_“Of who_ _?_ _T_ _hat idiot?_ _”_ _H_ _e huffs_ _,_ _making her laugh._

_“_ _You_ _’_ _re jealous!”_ _S_ _he_ _exclaims_ _with a laugh._

_“Of course not!”_

_“You’re jealous, little Ben_ _.”_

_“_ _Enough_ _!_ _Y_ _ou changed the subject, this has nothing to do with_ _–”_

_"What are you jealous of?” Ben groans. Suddenly the laughter stops and Kiara notices her friend’s embarrassed look. She grabs the boy’s_ _face_ _forcing him to look at her._ _“_ _If it bothers you so much that_ _I’m_ _with another boy, it means you have feelings for me._ _M_ _ore than_ _platonic._ _”_

_They_ _’_ _re both confused, they_ _’_ _d never felt anything like this for anyone. Since th_ _e_ _dance, everything_ _is_ _different_ _._

_Ben now notices_ _–_ _the freckles on her skin,_ _her sweet_ _smile_ _… T_ _he young Solo_ _can’t_ _stop thinking about_ _how_ _she never knows how wonderful that smile can make someone like him feel._

_While Kiara would go out of her way to make Ben see how special and unique he is, she knows that her friend can’t see how great he is, with every detail he does for her it just shows how big his heart is, even if he appears to be a confident, serious and strong boy, she knows the real insecure_ _Ben_ _, but she_ _’_ _s willing to help him._

_“I don’t know how I feel,” Ben whispers. They_ _’_ _re close, their noses almost touching_ _._ _“I’ve never felt like this_ _…”_

_"Neither d_ _id_ _I_ _.”_

_"What are you doing to me, Kiara?”_ _H_ _e whispers again, then joins his lips with hers in a delicate and_ _tentative_ _kiss._

_The_ _ir_ _first_ _kiss_ _._


	11. Chapter 11

On that night Kylo Ren had difficulty sleeping. Despite having the most comfortable and largest bed of all, it doesn’t stop tossing on the mattress.

He’d long since become accustomed to the constant nightmares that haunted him and with the use of force, he could chase them away and simply not dream. But tonight is different, he can’t stop thinking about everything that has happened since he found Kiara, at first he couldn’t believe it, he thought it was a ghost, but then it all made sense, although he doesn’t know exactly what he did to survive. Then there was the fact that both have been saved from falling to their deaths, although what happened at the previous base wasn’t planned.

Kylo had felt something that weakened him and so he couldn’t stop his fall, but he didn’t expect her to save him. And her words, his heart doesn’t stop beating every time he remembers them, but he refuses to believe her.

Finally, he gives up and sits on the bed, trying to distract himself with anything: preparations, arrangements, reading a book, ordering food, trying everything, but nothing works. Until an idea comes to mind through a different voice than his. He decides to ignore the owner or owners of the voice.

Regardless that he’s only in his pajamas, he walks through the halls, ignoring the soldiers, until he reaches Kiara’s room. He opens the door and when he enters, he closes it behind him.

The new room is smaller, but has everything she needs. Kylo walks, slowly observing his surroundings until his sight falls on the bed at the end. Kiara is asleep, the sheets are tangled on her body, which is face down, her head on her side, her mouth slightly open causing slight snoring and her hair scattered on the pillow.

She seems at peace, he understands that she must be tired, after all she’s been through and also because of the memories they shared the other night, which remain a mystery. Kylo can’t help but get closer and slowly he gets to his knees at the foot of the bed, his hand running fearfully over her cheek, pushing aside the locks and again the memory of that dance comes to his mind.

So innocent, pure, _full of joy_. The details arrive and he remembers what happened after she entered the room, the food and alcohol, the laughter, family gossip and the stars. For a moment, Kylo wants to go back to those moments when being with her was his only concern.

“You’ve always been a creep. Now you’re watching me sleep…” A whisper startles him, but when she opens her eyes they relax him and embarrass him a little. Kiara adjusts herself to see him better.

“It’s never been my intention,” He answers, and she smiles.

“Can’t sleep?“ Her voice is still hoarse from sleep. He shakes his head.

Kiara sits on the bed. They both look each other in the eye.

“Nightmares?”

“ _Thoughts_ ,” he replies.

“Do you want to talk about that?” He frowns.

“How can you act so calm after everything that’s happened?” She shrugs.

“I guess for a few minutes… we could pretend.”

Kiara was confused, the sleep and weariness are taking a tool on her, or she just says that to justify herself.

“What did you do to survive?” He blurts out and she sighs.

“Even I don’t fully understand it…”

"Show me,” Kylo offers his hands and she takes them. They both close their eyes controlling the memories.

_“_ _Ben! What_ _’_ _s happening?” she asks in horror as she sees everything around her being destroyed_

_“Come with me, we must run away_ _!_ _”_ _H_ _e takes Kiara’s hand, but she lets go quickly._

_“Not until you explain what happen_ _ed!”_ _Ben tries not to release his power against her._

_"I’ll explain everything to you-”_

_“Now!” she demands._

_Ben growls and guides her to a secluded spot, looking around for signs of Luke or anyone who might stop him._

_“Luke wanted to kill me_ _.”_

_”_ _What_ _?“_

_"He felt my power, it_ _’_ _s greater than all of you_ _rs_ _, and he couldn_ _’_ _t cope with it. Kiara,_ _he_ _came into my cabin and tried to kill me. We must get out of here_ _!_ _”_

_“_ _Did you do all this?_ _”_ _S_ _he asks, unable to believe it._

_"I had to… Luke made me do this_ _!”_ _Kiara notices the darkness in_ _his_ _eyes,_ _she_ _steps back_ _in fear_ _._

_“_ _The voices, Snoke. You keep listening to them_ _…_ _”_

_"Kiara_ _–_ _”_

_“You_ _’_ _re making a serious mistake, Ben. Leave all of this behind. Don’t listen to them, they just want to hurt you_ _…_ _”_

_“_ _WHO SAYS IT? Luke?_ _” Now he_ _’_ _s approaching quickly, causing fear in her,_ _she_ _moves away until she hits the rock behind her._ _“He_ _’_ _s only told us lies, Kiara. The dark side has more power, it has many things to teach us, I have seen it_ _…_ _”_

_“_ _Ben_ _…”_ _Her_ _cheeks are covered with tears_ _._ _“No, do not do this_ _…”_

_Kiara doesn_ _’_ _t know what else to say,_ _she_ _doesn_ _’_ _t understand the sudden change._ _She t_ _hink_ _s_ _of all that he has hidden from_ _her_ _. "No, listen to me, we will solve this, the others_ _–“_

_"They are all dead!”_

_Her breathing is shaky._

_“_ _Stop!“_ _She_ _use_ _s_ _force and manage to throw him a few meters._

_The body hits the ground and Ben’s anger increases, it doesn’t take_ _him_ _long to get up. Kiara takes this opportunity to ignite her lightsaber._

_"Don’t make me do this, Ben_ _…”_

_He watches her in surprise, he didn’t count on her trying to stop him._

_‘_ **_Kill her, if she’s not on your side,_ ** **_she_ ** **_just get_ ** **_s_ ** **_in the way_ ** **_’_ ** _the voices tell_ _him_ _._

_Ben lights his saber and they both start a fight they never thought they_ _’d_ _had. Her movements are agile and fast and his movements are strong and determined._

_Kiara dodges the attacks and defends herself with great skill. They both know that this is no longer part of_ _their_ _training. The confrontation goes as far as being close to a rock cave, the one in which both sometimes hid from other_ _s_ _._

_The sabers collide, the bodies cover themselves with ashes and dirt._

_"Please, Ben_ _,”_ _S_ _he says with difficulty_ _,_ _that_ _’_ _s when the boy notices_ _her_ _weakness. Ben walks away a little and she looks confused._

_The boy offers his hand "Let’s not do this, my star_ _…”_ _H_ _er breath stops when she hears the nickname_ _._ _"Come with me … be my partner_ _…”_

_The voices try to enter her head, but their power is stronger._

_"No,”_ _S_ _he says firmly. Ben’s hand clenches into fist_ _s_ _, he looks up and notices the cave, he knows what to do._

_“Then you’re just on my way_ _,_ _”_ _He_ _uses force and pushes her away. She falls at the entrance to the cave. Ben gets a little closer._

_“We would have made a good team, my love_ _…”_ _with that_ _,_ _he uses force again and causes_ _the rocks to collapse_ _against Kiara’s body._

_Everything_ _t_ _urned black, the last thing Ben could see_ _was_ _the arm of his beloved_ _from under_ _the rocks. After that, he returned to his destruction. At that moment, Ben Solo died and Kylo Ren took his place._

_–————————————————————_

_"R2, who is it?_ _”_ _It is the first thing she hears among the rocks, the earth_ _fills_ _her lungs._ _She_ _moves with difficulty, but stops when_ _s_ _he feels an enormous weight on_ _her_ _right leg._

_The beeps are closer._

_“_ _Help_ _,_ _”_ _She_ _trie_ _s._

_“Kiara?” Luke yells from the other side._

_The_ _sobs hurt her. After a few minutes,_ _she_ _stop_ _s_ _feeling the weight on_ _her_ _body. Luke uses force to save her. Picking her up gently, Kiara can tell he_ _’_ _s crying too._

_“_ _Easy, little one. You’re safe_ _…_ _”_ _S_ _he passed out_ _after that_ _again._

_————————————————————_

“I don’t understand how I could survive the collapse,” She says, barely above a whisper. Their hands are intertwined. Kylo is sitting next to her on the bed. “Luke took me with Han and Leia. He told them everything, they couldn’t believe it, I remember her crying while I recovered in the hospital. My broken leg, ribs and arm…”

They’re silent for a few minutes. Kylo knows that apologizing is not enough and she doesn’t expect it.

“H-how did you end up with Han?” He asks fearfully. She smiles at the memory.

“Leia invited me to all the resistance meetings, important things, she didn’t leave me alone. At first I appreciated it, but everything that was happening overwhelmed me too much. I was afraid of…” She looks him in the eye.“If you discovered that I was alive, you would’ve done whatever it took to finish what you had started. I wanted to get away from everything. Your parents weren’t in a good situation after the news. I heard that Han was going back to his old job and I begged him to take me with him.“

Suddenly Kylo’s hand touches her cheek and he caresses her gently. Kiara sighs at the touch and her eyes water.

The man, for the first time since he saw her again, noticed the passage of time in her, her features are still thin, but now they’re different, firm, her hair is longer. He runs his other hand through it.

"Why does the force want to show us our memories?”

“I don’t know.”

"The dance… _you_ , I didn’t remember how beautiful you looked that day,” He says surprised at his sincerity.

"You were so nervous,” She says, laughing a little.

Kylo’s hand goes from the cheek towards her neck and little by little both get closer. Kiara closes her eyes and Kylo doesn’t miss the opportunity to kiss her.

The kiss begins slow and delicate, but they don’t wait long to become needy. Kiara runs her hands through his hair and pulls it lightly, causing a groan from Kylo, while the black-haired man grips her waist. Without noticing, Kiara ends up lying against the mattress with Kylo on top of her. His lips part in search of air and then moves down to her neck.

Their minds are cloudy, they want to continue, feel each other. But this doesn’t last long, when they look at each other again, they come to their senses.

Suddenly she pushes him hard and he falls out of bed, but quickly gets up.

Neither knows what to do, they look like two children being discovered by their parents. They don’t say anything.

Kylo leaves the room.

The last thing they share is the scream in their mind.

**_“NO!”_ **

——————————————————

Kiara’s pov

It’s been several days, he hasn’t even asked me to go to training. I know that our situation is uncomfortable and I don’t even know how to act now.

The kiss was… as if he was finally breathing after so long holding his breath.

My head is messed up.

_Wasn’t it ever?_

I groan when I hear the voice in my head again.

**_Leave me alone_ ** **_._ **

_It’s not my fault that you think so_ _loud._

**_Yeah right. Can you go for a few minutes? I am sinking into my misery._ **

_Sure._

I sigh in relief once I don’t listen to her anymore.

Which gives me an opportunity to continue with my adolescent regrets.

I certainly don’t know what I’m doing, really. First I tell him that I love him, when it’s not true… almost. Then the kiss.

“AAAAAAAGGH!” What’s happening to me? I don’t get it. He did what he did and is doing horrible things and has no regrets.

_You know it’s not true, he’s changing, thanks to you_ _._

**_Dammit._ **

It’s not because of me, he can’t change, people don’t change, I just… hate myself. I want to get out of here and run away as far as I can, that does work for me.

I walk around my room until I reach the door, I stop right in front.

“If only I could leave my room, so I could do a master plan…”

_You had a chance before and decided to stay with him_ _._

**_No_ ** **_t_ ** **_for him_ ** **_._ ** **** **_N_ ** **_o, no, no._ **

I lean against the wall and inadvertently touch the panel, causing the door to open. I look at everything totally confused.

“That’s what it takes?” I say offended.

_What if you talk to him?_

**_It’s not a good idea_ ** **_._ **

_Why? Surely he’s in his room_ _._

**_Well,_ ** **_good_ ** **_._ ** **_Let him stay there._ **

_Kiara_ _…_

**_Enough_ ** **_Rey_ ** **_, stop telling me what to do_ ** **_!_ **

_You know I’m not comfortable with this connection either, but we can’t do anything about it_ _._

**_I wish I had an alarm that would alert me when I had a new connection to someone._ **

_Yes it wasn’t nice to find out when you were bathing_ _._

**_Noup_ ** **_._ **

_Well, I already saw you naked and him shirtless, there won’t be so many secrets_ _._

**_What_ ** **_–_ ** **_you what?_ **

_Just go with him_ _._

**_Since when do you want to help him? What do you mean you saw him shirtless?_ **

_I want to help_ _you_ _both and I can feel that you have more power over him, we can both change it, Kiara. Also, there_ _’_ _s no stormtrooper on guard_ _._

I growl at her idea, especially since I also think the same, I peek at confirming what she says.

_Okay, but this conversation is not over._

I walk the hallways very cautiously.

**_Any idea where_ ** **_his_ ** **_room might be?_ **

_Turn left here, you_ _’_ _re close._

I obey orders until I reach a door being watched by two soldiers.

**_And now?_ **

_Pretend_ _he_ _sen_ _t_ _for_ _you_ _._

I approach the soldiers.

“I’m sorry lady. You can’t walk in.”

**_T_ ** **_hey don’t know that I’m a prisoner._ **

_Brilliant_ _._

"Kylo Ren called me, said it was important,” Both soldiers share a look.

“I think you’re wrong,” before I could reply, the door opens and a woman comes out of it. She stops when she sees me, her hands hold her robe, she walks past me and gets lost in the corridors.

_Oh no._

Everything connects.

**_He was shirtless, and a girl came out of her room._ **

_Kiara_ _–_

"Oh my god,” I say with a grimace. No no no. Him? No.

_Ew_ _!_

I’m so distracted that I don’t realize Kylo comes to the door and looks at me in surprise.

“Kiara” I look up and as Rey said, he’s shirtless. I feel a pressure in my chest.

“I, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to…” He suddenly frowns

"What are you doing here? How could you get out of the room?”

Does he care more about that than this?

Not that it’s a bad thing– He’s a man… a single man. He can do whatever he wants, after all, and I can’t claim anything from him.

"N-no one was–”

“Escort her to her room and keep her in,” He says to a stormtrooper. And then turns back to me. “I don’t want to see you out unless I need you.”

I look at him confused.

The soldier obey and lightly push me to walk. I don’t say anything else.

I just let myself be guided without understanding very well what happened.


	12. Chapter 12

He has every right in the galaxy, this shouldn’t affect me. We’re no longer children so that kiss didn’t matter. We’re adults…

But why did he treat me like this? First he wants to know about my past, then he kisses me and when I’m at the highest level of crisis, I realize that… in reality, that kiss didn’t matter to him, our moment did not change him.

No one can change, can they?

I’m a fool, I shouldn’t have thought… No, wait, this was not my fault, he has also played with my mind! He kissed me, no one forced him, maybe he didn’t care, but why did he do it? It makes no sense. I’m sick of this whole show, I can’t do it anymore.

Among all that we have been through when we were children, adolescents, his change to the dark side, when I ran away… so many years running away from him, from his memory, from the Jedi, from the force, all this. For what? To be a prisoner on the wrong side, being threatened by a grotesque giant who proclaims himself master and lord of everything.

I’m sick of acting like a teenager, I’m sick of myself playing with my thoughts and feelings, I don’t know what situation I might be in tomorrow, and all I’ve done is run away and play lovebirds with Kylo, while everyone else in the resistance is risking their lives to stop it, I think it’s time.

I sit on the floor and cross my legs, close my eyes and let go, remembering all the past training.

The force unites with me, but this time is different, I no longer see just light and darkness, I hear the beating of hearts, the noises, the screams, the effort, the fear… pain.

Enough of games.

_What are you doing?_

My heart flutters uncontrollably as I recognize the voice. His voice.

 ** _What do you want?_** I answer.

_Your barriers have fallen._

**_And what will you do about it?_ **

_What are you planning?_

**_Finish this_ ** **_._ **

_What do you mean?_

**_I can’t do it anymore, Ben. And I’m sure that you also-_ **

I open my eyes to feel something’s changed.

The door to my room opens and Kylo enters. I get up and face him.

“Your barriers have also fallen,” I say in a whisper, we looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. I get a little closer to him. "I can feel the conflict in you.”

"You can’t do anything to change me.”

"Maybe not, that’s on you, Ben.”

“Stop calling me that! No one understands it, everyone expects something more from me, but no- ”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand! You had everything in your favor, you had a future! But you ignored all the warnings, you ignored me and your best idea was to get rid of me!” My breaths are shaky. “Stop throwing tantrums all the time and for once in your life do something. Stop listening to everyone else, listen to yourself, Ben, listen to what I told you, what the fuck do you want?”

"I know what you saw yesterday, I know what you felt,” I look away.

“I don’t think that matters now. You have every right to do what you want with whoever you want, but I must tell you something,” _I am brave_ _._ "I won’t take part of your child games, I will not be part of your army or Snoke’s, I don’t want to be part of any of this. A lot of people are trying to come up with a plan to destroy you and… and I’m not going to stop them.”

He abruptly looks away and talks.

“It’s not a good time,” He says, I look at him confused. I see to where he’s looking at, but I don’t understand what’s going on. His expression changes and turns to me.

"It’s Rey,” when I think he’s going to leave, Kylo does the opposite, He sits on my bed and talks to her.

I sit next to him and listen only to his part.

"If this is a lie, it’s a good way to cut a serious topic.”

“It’s not a lie,” He says, glaring at me. “She is with me,” He replies to Rey, then I can see how his cheeks flush and he gets nervous. “It’s not what it seems,” They keep talking, “Nothing happened with… with that woman.”

I look at him surprised, but I shake my head, I don’t want distractions. Damn hormones.

Both continue talking and I try to connect what’s happening with the little information it gives me.

“You’re not alone,“ He replies. His heart beats faster and I feel his body tense.

"Ben?” I touch his shoulder. He stirs in my bed and the connection seems to be cut, his gaze returning to me.

“I wish everything was easier. I wish I could tell you everything that’s going on, but I can’t do it, even I don’t know. The only thing I’m sure of is that I’ve failed you and there’s nothing I can do to remedy it. You’re right to be angry, since I saw you… the night I thought I lost you is the only thing I could see every night. I may regret many things, but what I can never, truly forgive myself for, is what I did.”

I don’t know what to tell him.

"I tried to forget you- The woman… nothing happened.”

"You don’t need to give me an explanation–“

"I need to, I must do it,” He gets up and paces around the room. "I don’t know what you’re doing to me, but just as, or maybe worse than when we were younger and I can’t stop thinking about you and… I’m going crazy.”

“You’re not the only one…” I say in a whisper.

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“I don’t know.”

After a few seconds, he comes closer and I get up. My body is tired and I’m sure that his is too. His hand touches my cheek and I get closer to him, resting my head on his chest. Then we just hug. Since I came here, it’s the first time that I feel safe.

That night we both slept in the same bed, the first night without any nightmares.

——————————————————————

When we wake up, Ben shakes my shoulder lightly and tells me about Rey’s possible arrival.

"I need you to stay here.”

"It’s the only thing I’ve done since day one,” I roll my eyes as I get up.

“Kiara…”

“You know I’ll be leaving as soon as I can and you won’t be able to stop me,” He sighs and gives me the briefest of smiles.

“Rey’s arrival will cause chaos.”

"I’m used to it.”

“Kiara, please–”

“No.”

Ben growls, but he knows he can’t do anything.

“Come with me” I say. He looks at me in surprise.

"Yesterday you just wanted to yell at me, now you want to take me with you?”

"I always want to yell at you, sometimes strangle you but… what you think of as the chaos, I see it as an opportunity.”

"You can’t come with me, I must take her with Snoke.”

"Then go, but as soon as you can… come back to me,” I craddle his face in my hands. “You’re not alone, Ben. You have a home and you know it, it is your duty to return.”

He lean further and kisses my forehead, takes my hand, puts something in it and then closes it.

"Stay safe,” He then leaves the room. I open my hand and feel a terrible lump in my throat when I see the necklace Han gave me on my birthday.

I can’t wait anymore

I look for my lightsaber in Ben’s room. And I prepare for the inevitable.

——————————————————————

I walk all over the ship with my saber in hand, ready to get rid of any droid or person, but it seems that all the troopers have been called somewhere else, I’m heading there too.

Upon arrival, there are several armed groups, I get closer and I hide behind some boxes. Without attracting attention I listen to what they say. Apparently Phasma and Hux are in front of two people in first order uniforms… Hold on…

“You’re wrong,” I know that wonderful voice!

Finn and… another girl are forced to kneel.

“Take them out with a blaster is too good for them. Let them hurt,” Phasma orders.

Damn, now I understand what the other soldiers say about her, she’s not the boss for nothing. The only good thing about my confinement was not running into her. Although, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet us now, would it?

I come out of my hiding place little by little and see how two troopers come out with weapons ready to obey Phasma.

"We don’t have to get aggressive, guys,” Their focus is on me now.

"The prisoner,” says Phasma.

“I’m Kiara, pleasure,” I feel the eyes of Finn and the girl on me as well.

"Catch her,” Two troopers approach and with no effort, I turn on my laser and get rid of them.

"I wanted to chat, my dear. But it’s not going to be possible, free them and maybe I’ll have mercy.”

I don’t wait for an answer and the two soldiers who trapped Finn and the girl met by my saber. Both get up and the other soldiers get into attack position.

"Was this your plan?” Finn whispers.

I grimace.

“Not the best, but at least I helped?”

“We’re dead,” the girl complains and I look at her offended.

Before anyone could do something, a big bang explodes behind us. All I remember is my body crashing against the ground. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to open and see everything on fire, some ships being destroyed.

With difficulty I get up and feel a great déja vu. I turn to my left and see the girl trying to drag Finn’s body. I reach out to help her, but he manages to wake up.

"Finn!”

The boy gets up.

“There’s a ship back there, we have to go!”

I stop.

Go, I could get out of here.

“Kiara?” Finn asks me worried. “We must run away…”

I start to run, but we didn’t last long since Phasma and a group of Stormtroopers survived.

The fight begins and the shooting of the blasters do too. I light my saber again and use force as an ally to try to defend myself and help my friends.

"Finn!” The girl screams and I see how Phasma corners the boy. I try to go to him, but a group of soldiers stop me.

Phasma manages to hurt the boy and knocks him unconscious. I don’t waste time and just when the soldier tries to kill Finn, I stop her with my saber, now the fight is between her and me.

“We wouldn’t have been friends,” I say between gasps. I dodge her attacks and I can tell she is good, but she’s also weak.

I hurt her with my saber in the leg and she falls, I raise my gun, but before I can do anything. I feel a huge pain in my chest, so much that it destabilizes me and I recoil a little, I can hardly breathe.

 ** _Ben!_** I don’t get a response. A great mistake, a great distraction.

Suddenly a sharp pain shakes my body. Phasma took advantage of the distraction and used her weapon to cut my arm.

I scream in pain and fall to the ground as I hold myself.

What happened next is a little fuzzy, I see Finn, then he reaches out and grabs my saber, pulls my left arm and helps me up, my weight on him.

“Come on, Kiara, don’t leave me now,” He whispers in my ear as we walk.

The girl along with BB-8 manage to help us and we all go to a ship to get out of there.

On the ship, Finn lays me down and the girl helps him cover my no-longer-right hand, but before we leave, I close my eyes and focus on the connection.

**_Ben_ **

I wait a few seconds.

_Sorry_

**_You must_ ** **_come_ **

_I’m so sorry_ _,_ _my star_

——————————————————————

Finn and Rose’s ship arrives at the rebel base, being a ship of the first order, everyone begins to shoot, but the crew raise their hands and little little by little they come out to make it known that they’re not the bad guys.

“Finn! Rose! You’re not dead!” Poe yells as soon as he sees them. “Where’s my droid?”

BB-8 runs towards its owner while Finn and Rose help with great difficulty to Kiara, who’s about to fall unconscious.

Leia and Poe reach out to help. Kiara, seeing the woman can’t help but shed pent-up tears.

“Sorry, I- I tried, He…” Says the girl between sobs.

"Shhh, honey, it’s okay, I understand.”

Poe takes Kiara in his arms and carries her away to the doctors while the others move from one side to the other with the new teams to continue fighting.

The fight is not over.

The doctors managed to stop the bleeding and were able to keep Kiara awake, but her body remains weak. She needs to go to a base where they have better teams.

“I’ll be fine, you must help others…” She says with difficulty as she gets up. The doctors are not sure, but they obey.

Kiara stays in her place and tries to contact Ben, but all her efforts are in vain. Ben has put up his barriers again and her weakness doesn’t allow her to break through them.

"I see you followed my style…”

The girl looks to her left in disbelief.

“Luke…” The man points to her hand with a small smile. Kiara rolls her eyes and laughs a little. "It suits me better.”

“I bet,” When Luke is in front of her, he touches her cheek. "I’m sorry for all the damage you’ve been through, Kiara.”

"I guess that’s what happens when you listen to a blond man impressed by your abbilities as a thief.” We both laughed.

"I come to confront him, Kiara. I can’t save him,” The girl knows what he’s talking about and looks away for a few seconds.

"I tried to help him, Luke.”

“You did a better job than me,” He says with a half smile. "I don’t know what happened, but I feel like I should apologize.”

“Luke,” She tries to say something, but the man continues.

“I’m sorry I failed you and Ben, but now I’m here to try to fix things,” He sighs. "I must also confess…” She stares at him, expectant. "Of all my students, you will always be my favorite,” Both laugh again.

The last thing Luke Skywalker gives to his former apprentice, his friend, is a kiss on her forehead, then he heads towards the main headquarters, where Leia is.

The confrontation continues between Kylo Ren and the resistance, only now, Luke Skywalker is the distraction. The problem now is to get out of the cave.

Poe finds the solution by being guided by the cave-dwelling creatures. Everyone follows him, Finn helps Kiara until they reach where the exit would be, but it’s covered by stacked rocks.

“I don’t like this at all,” says Kiara looking at Leia.

“There must be another way out,” says Poe desperately, but the movement of the rocks interrupts him.

On the other side Rey is in charge of using force to leave the exit clear. Everyone leaves and Finn hugs his friend while Poe picks up Kiara again and helps her move on.

“Someone has leveled up in the _‘lift rocks’_ lesson, right?” Kiara scoffs when she walks past Rey, who just laughs. Everyone follows the path up to the Milenium Falcon.

Kiara’s body is connected to various machines and medical help. At this moment, finally, she closes her eyes and rests after a very hectic day.


End file.
